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July 2010
“Glee” takes top honors at Television Critics Association Awards
It was a “Glee”-ful night in Beverly Hills as the Fox Network’s musical comedy series took home multiple honors at the Television Critics Association’s 26th Annual TCA Awards Saturday. The awards are decided by votes from more than 200 professional television critics.
“Glee” took “Program of the Year” in addition to “Outstanding New Program” and “Glee” actress Jane Lynch was honored for “Individual Achievement in Comedy.”
ABC’s “Modern Family” was voted “Outstanding Achievement in Comedy,” and ABC’s “Lost” and AMC’s “Breaking Bad” tied as the victors in the category of “Outstanding Achievement in Drama.”
It was a good night for new shows, with freshman series’ “Modern Family” (ABC) and “The Good Wife” (CBS) joining “Glee” in receiving honors.
Actor James Garner received a career achievement award at the event, hosted by “Parenthood’s” Dax Shepard.
Here is the complete list of winners:
PROGRAM OF THE YEAR: “Glee” (FOX)
OUTSTANDING NEW PROGRAM: “Glee” (FOX)
INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY: Jane Lynch, “Glee” (FOX)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY: “Modern Family” (ABC)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA: TIE — “Lost” (ABC) and “Breaking Bad” (AMC)
INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA: Julianna Margulies, “The Good Wife” (CBS)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN NEWS & INFORMATION: “Life” (Discovery)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN YOUTH PROGRAMMING: “Yo Gabba Gabba” (NICK JR.)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN MOVIES, MINISERIES & SPECIALS: “The Pacific” (HBO)
HERITAGE AWARD: “MASH” (CBS)
CAREER ACHIEVEMENT: James Garner
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TCA Awards Saturday night
Capping off a surreal first week in Hollywood (last night’s NBC party was especially bizarre — I felt as if I were at a Dunder Mifflin office party with Kevin, Toby, Meredith and Erin walking around) are Saturday night’s Television Critics Association Awards.
Texas is representing. NBC/DirecTV’s “Friday Night Lights” is up for “Program of the Year” and “Temple Grandin,” the HBO film shot in and around Austin, is nominated for “Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials.”
Here is the complete list of nominees. Come back tonight at 11 p.m. CT to find out who won:
Individual Achievement in Drama
Bryan Cranston (“Breaking Bad,” AMC)
John Lithgow (“Dexter,” Showtime)
Julianna Margulies (“The Good Wife,” CBS)
Aaron Paul (“Breaking Bad”, AMC)
Katey Sagal (“Sons of Anarchy,” FX)
Individual Achievement in Comedy
Ty Burrell (“Modern Family,” ABC)
Jane Lynch (“Glee,” Fox)
Nick Offerman (“Parks and Recreation,” NBC)
Jim Parsons (“The Big Bang Theory,” CBS)
Eric Stonestreet (“Modern Family,” ABC)
Outstanding Achievement in News and Information
“30 for 30” (ESPN)
“America: The Story of Us” (History Channel)
“Life” (Discovery Channel)
“The Daily Show” (Comedy Central)
“The Rachel Maddow Show” (MSNBC)
Outstanding Achievement in Youth Programming
“Dinosaur Train” (PBS)
“iCarly” (Nickelodeon)
“Star Wars: The Clone Wars” (Cartoon Network)
“Word Girl” (PBS)
“Yo Gabba Gabba” (Nick Jr.)
Outstanding New Program
“Glee” (Fox)
“Justified” (FX)
“Modern Family” (ABC)
“Parenthood” (NBC)
“The Good Wife” (CBS)
Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials
“Life” (Discovery Channel)
“Temple Grandin” (HBO)
“The Pacific” (HBO)
“Torchwood: Children of Earth” (BBC America)
“You Don’t Know Jack” (HBO)
Outstanding Achievement in Drama
“Breaking Bad” (AMC)
“Lost” (ABC)
“Mad Men” (AMC)
“Sons of Anarchy” (FX)
“The Good Wife” (CBS)
Outstanding Achievement in Comedy
“Glee” (Fox)
“Modern Family” (ABC)
“Parks and Recreation” (NBC)
“Party Down” (Starz)
“The Big Bang Theory” (CBS)
Career Achievement Award
James Garner
Bill Moyers
Sherwood Schwartz
William Shatner
Dick Wolf
Heritage Award
“24”
“MAS*H”
“Law & Order”
“Lost”
“Twin Peaks”
Program of the Year
“Breaking Bad” (AMC)
“Friday Night Lights” (DirecTV/NBC)
“Glee” (Fox)
“Lost” (ABC)
“Modern Family” (ABC)
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TCA: ‘Law & Order: Los Angeles’ (NBC)
“Law & Order” czar Dick Wolf kicked off the panel for his new show, “Law & Order: Los Angeles,” with a eulogy for the original show, frequently referred to during the panel as “The Mothership.”
He said he was disappointed that the venerable show didn’t come back, but noted that it had one of the greatest runs in history of the business. “The past is the past,” he said.
It was announced that on the “Law” side of the new show, Terence Howard and Alfred Molina would rotate as the District Attorneys. Wolf said there are no plans for stars of the original show to make crossover appearances. “But,” he noted, “anything is possible.”
Executive producer Rene Balcer disagreed with a questioner’s assertion that LA was a less interesting setting than New York. The panel acknowledged that NYC is a melting pot, but discussed the diversity of Los Angeles, both economically and racially. Balcer said that the setting has the beach, which he called “the great equalizer,” noting that everybody goes there. “There are so many stories to be told here and so many venues,” star Skeet Ulrich said. Wolf called the new show “a progressive moving forward of the brand.”
Responding to a question about the show’s “look,” Wolf chuckled. “I’m not going to get into artsy fartsy discussions about color temperature, but it’s hotter here.” In response to a questioner wondering if the writers would be younger for the new franchise, the panel responded that “maturity is not a function of age.”
Wolf was asked to spell the iconic, two-note musical sting so identified with the franchise (yes, it will be making the leap to the new series). Wolf declined, responding that everyone had a different name for it (his is “ching-ching”). “I don’t think it’s spell-able,” he said.
“Law & Order: Los Angeles” premieres on Wednesday, Sept. 29 on NBC.
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TCA: ‘Undercovers’ (NBC)
There were six or seven people onstage at the Television Critics Summer Tour panel for NBC’s playful spy dramedy “Undercovers,” but it was difficult to see beyond the show’s two stunning stars, Boris Kodjoe and Gugu Mbatha-Raw. The ridiculously handsome couple, along with producers, fielded questions from reporters, many of which centered on race (Kodjoe and Mbatha-Raw are African-American).
Executive producer Josh Reims talked about the show’s casting. “We wanted to write show like “Philadelphia Story,” but Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn are dead,” he joked. Reims claimed that producers didn’t go out of their way to specifically seek black actors for the roles and that he didn’t consider the casting revolutionary. “We wish it wasn’t such a big deal that a show has two black leads at this point in time,” he added.
Kodjoe said that he thought it was important that the milestone was noted, but hoped that from this point on it would begin to be looked at as “normal.”
“Josh and J.J. (series creator Abrams) have led the way and I hope the world will open up to it,’ he added.
Kodjoe was asked about the mix of moods on the show, which switch rapidly from action to drama to comedy. “It’s an absolute dream come true for an actor,” he responded. “It’s a challenge and a blessing.”
The panel was asked whether this show was, in some way, an extension of “Alias,” an idea which Reims shot down. “I thought ‘Alias’ was one of the most confusing shows ever,” he said. “We’re not doing ‘Alias’.”
The show will have story arcs (mostly related to the characters’ pasts — we don’t know much about their pasts and they don’t know much about each others’ — but the episodes will be largely of the stand-alone variety.
Reim responded to the potential lack of drama presented by the lead characters being happily married. “You can have a married couple who are in love and still have tension,” he said. He insisted that the fact that these characters were not poised to break up following each argument would make them a lot more real.
Finally Kodjoe, who is German but sports no trace of that accent, said colloquialisms remain problematic for him. “My English was so bad that somebody would ask me ‘what’s up?’ and I’d look up,” he said.
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TCA: ‘The Event’ (NBC)
NBC kicked off its Television Critics Summer Press Tour event with “The Event.” The trippy, conspiratorial sci-fi show and heir apparent to “Lost” stands to both benefit and suffer from that show’s devoted fan base and often maddening lack of answers (and, from my viewpoint, unsatisfying and mawkish resolution).
Panelists insisted that they were very cognizant of audience patience and of rewarding them with information. In the second episode, for instance, what they called the “two biggest questions from the pilot” will be answered.
The show features a time-shifting device, similar to “Lost.” The pilot episode features frequent and jarring shifts back and forth through days, months and years. Producers said that the device’s use will continue, but claimed that it would slow down in future episodes. They insisted that the device is handy, because it allows the writers to “answer questions very quickly.”
Creator Nick Wauters, a big fan of shows like “Lost” and “24,” promised more immediate answers than those shows provided and asked for viewers’ trust that “we know what we’re doing.” Showrunner Evan Katz hails from “24” and it seems as if he’ll bring some of that sensibility. The pilot certainly contains that shows level of action. Katz called the pilot “unique” and “fragmented.” Realizing that a show like this rises and falls on the strength of its characters, he promised that we’ll find out much more about them in upcoming episodes. (The pilot does not go far beyond introducing them). Wauters called the pilot “an invitation; an appetizer” and again asked for viewers’ trust. “The dance of intrigue and satisfaction is what we’re going to be doing all the time,” said executive producer Steve Stark.
Cast members received character dossiers and enough information to play their scenes, but not much beyond that. “Generally we don’t know a whole heck of a lot,” star Jason Ritter said. Co-star Sarah Roemer noted that the cast members were not allowed to share information from their dossiers with each other. Sounds like one of those murder mystery parties that were popular back in the ’80s.
One journalist asked if Laura Innes character, a detainee being held in a secret government prison, was an alien. Innes would not answer beyond saying that “lots of things will be revealed about her.” She added that “We don’t want to end up on a show that drives people crazy.” (Side note: “Lost” creator Damon Lindelof, following the panel on Twitter, tweeted “Yes, you do” in response).
The pilot features scenes on a plane that could stir memories of 9/11. Stark saifd they did not take the parallels lightly. “We’re certainly sensitive to it.”
Typical of shows of this ilk, it can be difficult to distinguish the good guys from the bad guys. Zlejko Ivanek, who plays a possibly nefarious (and certainly ominous and contrary) Presidential advisor in “The Event,” hopes that there will be a lot of revisiting on where allegiances truly lie. About his character’s actions, he said that “fear is a great motivator.”
“The Event” premieres Monday, Sept. 20 at 8 p.m. on NBC.
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TCA today: NBC Universal meets the press
Today NBC takes the stage at the Television Critics Association’s Summer press tour. I don’t know what to expect in the ballroom today, but there were an awful lot of construction sounds coming out of there last night.
Maybe they’re building a giant, robotic peacock.
Whatever else greets us after breakfast, we’ll be meeting the stars and producers of new NBC shows including “The Event,” “Undercovers,” “Law & Order; Los Angeles,” “Outsourced,” “Outlaw” and “Chase,” so if you’ve got questions, please post them below as comment and I’ll try to get answers for you.
As always, you can follow me on Twitter or friend me on Facebook for the latest updates. My tweets are also showing up live in a Cover It Live chat window further down this page.
Stay tuned!
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Ellen DeGeneres quits ‘American Idol’
The Fox Network just sent out a news flash that Ellen DeGeneres, “Idol’s” new judge last season, is leaving the show.
“A couple months ago, I let Fox and the “American Idol” producers know that this didn’t feel like the right fit for me,” said DeGeneres. “I told them I wouldn’t leave them in a bind and that I would hold off on doing anything until they were able to figure out where they wanted to take the panel next. It was a difficult decision to make, but my work schedule became more than I bargained for. I also realized this season that while I love discovering, supporting and nurturing young talent, it was hard for me to judge people and sometimes hurt their feelings. I loved the experience working on IDOL and I am very grateful for the year I had. I am a huge fan of the show and will continue to be.”
DeGeneres’ departure leaves a second hole in the judging panel; popular judge Simon Cowell announced earlier that he would be leaving at the end of this season to pursue another televised talent show, “The X Factor.”
“We love Ellen and understand and support her decision to bow out of IDOL,” said Peter Rice, Chairman of Entertainment, Fox Networks Group. “We were fortunate to receive the humor, energy and love for talent that she brought to the show.”
No word yet on how Fox plans to replace half of it’s “Idol” judging panel.
Does this further sour you on “American Idol?” Did you think Ellen was a good judge and should have stuck around? Sound off in the comments, below.
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HGTV looking for Austin home buyers
HGTV’s “My First Place” is still looking for Austin-area participants. If you’re looking for a home and interested in being featured on the show, check out my previous post here.
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TCA: ‘$#*! My Dad Says’
Well this might not be the funniest show (in fact, the pilot — currently being retooled — was pretty dismal) but the panel at the Television Critics Association Summer Tour was a riot. Star and television legend William Shatner, a sprightly 79, fielded questions along with executive producers David Kohan, Max Mutchnick and Justin Halpern.
The show is famous for being the first television program based off of a Twitter feed, but Shatner admitted he doesn’t tweet. “I have problems with electronics,” he admitted. “So what I’ve done is I’ve hired a young man out of college, whose very fingers are the extension of computer keys and he Twitters. He does the mechanics, but I very carefully modulate what I say. It’s been an exploration in the immediate language of being short-termed and pithy.”
Kohan fielded questions about the troubled pilot, which saw the recasting of the character of Shatner’s son. “You know, it really came down to a question of we feel like we have a great concept and a great brand and a great star, and we just wanted it to be perfect,” he said. Producers have also removed a romance subplot from the show. “We’re streamlining,” Mutchnick said. “We saw that there was so much fun in just writing this buddy-buddy comedy. So that’s what we’re going for.”
Shatner insisted that any resemblance between his eccentric character on this show and his eccentric character on “Boston Public” is purely coincidental.
“I found, playing Denny Crane, fumbling for the thoughts was the way to go as he lurched into senility, but here, this guy is very much with it, and there’s a snap to the way he speaks, and that’s the way the jokes work, best of all,” Shatner said. “So if I’m fumbling, it’s not the character. It’s me.”
“Except Episode 6, which is called ‘Lurching Into Senility’,” Kohan cracked.
Shatner and the producers had differing opinions on the importance of the Twitter connection.
“The show is a viral show. It is — in my limited imagination, it is an electronic miracle. It’s a show that stems from the culture of now, not yesterday, but now. This is a show that is in front of the curve, wave,” Shatner said.
Mutchnick considers Twitter more of a launching point. “It’s our job as television writers to deliver a good product to you. I mean, it’s fantastic that we have this point of departure, but I think we need to be honest about the fact that it’s a point of departure, and now, it’s our job to turn out a fantastic sitcom for you every week. CBS is giving us this incredible time slot with this lead-in of ‘The Big Bang,’ and it’s our job as writers and TV-makers to entertain a lot of people,” he said.
”$#*! My Dad Says” premieres Weds., Sept. 23 at 7:30 p.m.
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Live from Hollywood: Follow @djroe on Twitter
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TCA: ‘Blue Bloods’
A scad of bodies filled the stage for the panel on ‘Blue Bloods’, CBS’ new fall drama about a family of cops that includes conspiratorial elements. But stars Tom Selleck (returning to regular series television after a long hiatus) and Donnie Wahlberg predictably got the lion’s share of reporter attention.
Selleck, who has stated his reluctance to return to series television, explained why this was the right project to bring him back. “It was good, number one,” he said. “Number two, it was an ensemble that clearly was going to require talented actors.” He explained that, as the lead in “Magnum, P.I.,” he was in every shot. “I kind of left it after eight years because I was tired from it, not tired of it.”
Both Selleck and Wahlberg were attracted to the family element of the show. Producer Mitchell Burgess described it as a melding of a family drama with a police show. “And that’s what makes it unique, the emphasis on the characters and not so much — it’s the mix of both,” he said.
“I think that’s what makes it unique,” added producer Robin Green, “that you really get to live the police life with these people.” Green worked on “The Sopranos” and was interested in exploring different types of characters on this show. “Every character you almost see on TV right now, they’re dark, they have this problem, they’re antiheroes,” Green said.
“It was very conscious, what we did. We wanted to discover a hero and write that,” Burgess added.
Robin and Burgess felt it was important to shoot the series in New York, a decision which Selleck supported, even though it keeps him away from home.
“Look, it’s difficult for me to argue that shooting a show about New York won’t be better shot in New York,” Selleck admitted. “That’s not an argument that’d hold much water in, for instance, Toronto. No offense, Toronto, but I’ve shot there, and it’s a lovely place to shoot, but it’s different. And, you know, I’m relocating, as are many of the cast. And we’re doing it because we love the show.”
“Blue Bloods” premieres on CBS at 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 24.
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TCA: ‘The Defenders’
“The Defenders” (not a remake of the 1960s CBS series) began as a documentary about a pair of real-life Las Vegas defense attorneys. The idea was sold to CBS, who decided that they liked the idea and the characters, but would rather do it as a scripted series.
The pilot episode was shot in both Los Angeles and Las Vegas, but much of the series will be shot in L.A. standing in for Vegas. Producers said they are trying to show the other side of Vegas — they called it the “hangover” side — not just the casinos and the strip. But they explained that it’s much easier to have L.A. stand in for Vegas than to have it stand in for, say, New York.
The pilot is lighthearted with a lot of swagger, even though the plot involves a manslaughter case. Stars Jerry O’Connell and Jim Belushi watched the initial documentary footage and met with those real-life lawyers to shape their characters in the new series.
“These guys are characters,” Belushi said. “They are so bright. They’re great strategists in the courtroom, but in the rest of their life they’re kind of not so good — not so great with the women — there are great comic elements between them.”
The pilot episode ends with the cast in a casino watching Frank Sinatra Jr. perform. Belushi joked about ending every episode that way, but with a different performer. “We’re in negotiations right now with The Blues Brothers,” he cracked (Belushi took over his brother John’s slot in that fictional duo with Dan Aykroyd after John’s death in 1982).
“And Carrot Top won’t stop calling us,” O’Connell joked.
Belushi added that his corporate Vegas work with The Blues Brothers has affected his take on the city. “My relationship with Vegas has switched from being a person going to enjoy the weekend to an employee of Vegas, and it changes the whole chemistry of the town. So what I do is I go there, and I perform with my band and have a nice dinner and lay roulette for 20 minutes and go home. I’m kind of a boring guy.”
His co-star’s relationship with the city has changed as well. “I used to go to Vegas with about 20 or 30 friends, and we’d share one hotel room,” O’Connell recalled. “There would be 30 of us sharing two single beds. So that’s how I remember Vegas, but now that I’m married, look, I go there with my wife. A lot of shopping is done. To be honest, my credit card maxed out the last time we went there.”
“Friday Night Lights” cast member Jurneee Smollett (Jess Merriweather) plays Lisa Tyler, a young attorney who put herself through law school by dancing. “She’s … hired by the Morelli & Kaczmarek firm and comes in thinking that we are going to do things by the book,” Smollett says. And she’s with these two characters, and they are, like, ‘Toss that away. This is not how we do things.’ And we just hit the ground running.”
I got a chance to ask Smollett how her work on the new series was different from her work on “Friday Night Lights.”
“The process in Austin, you know, it’s amazing because Austin is a great town with all of the bars and all of the live music and stuff, but it’s just different,” she told me. “(In Austin) we are constantly in the field, getting bit by mosquitoes, and we are dealing with 106-degree heat. So, for one, the conditions are going to be completely different than it will be for us on this show. I’m incredibly excited to take on this challenge because it’s definitely a stretch, you know, but it’s stimulating. We have so much fun on the set. It’s almost criminal.”
“The Defenders” premieres at 9 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 22.
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TCA: ‘Hawaii Five-0’
A 35-piece orchestra kicked off the “Hawaii Five-0” panel during the CBS network’s presentation at TCA Wednesday. They weren’t in the ballroom, but there was a video of them re-recording the iconic theme song of the show for this fall’s reboot. Much of the discussion centered on the rebooting concept: how actors approached their characters; how producers handled the legacy, etc.
Scott Caan, who plays Danno in the new version, says he purposely avoided going back and reviewing the original, which ran on CBS for a dozen years, concluding in 1980. “I wanted to start fresh and I didn’t want to have any old ideas.” Alex O’Laughlin, the new Steve McGarrett, says that in the original version, the character was sort of a cipher. But he points out that we learn a lot about his new character in the pilot.
Other highlights:
On tourism: “I’m sure they are happy that it will bring more tourism to Hawaii, but the nice thing about it is that people want to go to Hawaii on vacation anyway.” — Alex Kurtzman, producer
The original was about memorable cases; the new version will focus on characters. The producers felt that they needed someone strong for McGarrett to play off of, so Danno became more of a partner to McGarrett than a subordinate.
The producers are very conscious about paying tribute to what the spirit of the original Five-0 was all about. They call it a family show. Producer Peter Lenkov talked about how he used to watch it with his dad and how that informed the father-son dynamic in the pilot.
On remake vs. reboot: A remake, Kurtzman said, implies that you are doing the exact same thing over again. That’s not what he’s doing. In a reboot, you find the spirit of what that original franchise was about and remain true to it, but you have to expand on it and bring it into the modern time with whatever rules will govern it. He and his cohorts wanted to respect the original but bring something new to the table.
On the iconic theme: It had been suggested that a famous rock star be hired to come in and record a new version of the theme with guitar.” You cannot change the original theme,” kurtzman said. “There are few themes that are as good as the Five-0 theme. This is one of those things that we have to be utterly respectful to, to the point that we found the original musicians who did the original theme and brought them back in to record it. At the end of the day, why mess with something that’s perfect?”
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TCA: “Big Bang Theory,” “Mike & Molly”
Cast members of CBS’ returning “The Big Bang Theory” and the new “Mike & Molly” took the TCA stage along with creator Chuck Lorre Wednesday morning to discuss the half-hour comedies.
“The Big Theory,” which has become a ratings powerhouse on Monday nights, is moving to Thursdays this fall where it will go head to head with NBC’s “Community.”
“Mike & Molly” is an old-school, retro comedy about a pair of overweight lovers and their efforts to improve their lives that Lorre created with writer Mark Roberts.
Regarding the “Big Bang” move, Lorre said that the network did not consult him, but insisted that was okay. “One assumes they’ve given it a lot of thought,” he said. “Our job is to make a good show, not to program.” This will be the comedy’s fourth time slot in three years.
Simon Helberg, who plays Howard Wolowitz on the show, got the session’s biggest laugh, butting into a question posed to Kunal Nayyar, who portrays Raj Koothrappali on the show about nerdy scientists. “Someday,” Helberg said, “Jews will make their mark in comedy.” Nayyar had been asked a question about the increase of Indian characters on television — NBC has a new fall comedy, “Outsourced,” placed in a call-center. Nayyar noted that call centers gave rise to the middle class in India and suggested that we would be seeing more Indian characters on television. “We’re all good looking and talented,” he cracked.
Some time was spent discussing the breakout Sheldon character played by Texan Jim Parsons. Regarding Sheldon and Penny’s increasingly sweet relationship, Lorre said “She’s domesticating him.”
One questioner asked if Lorre felt that the 4th season of “Big Bang” was critical, since it’s the time when a lot of critics and audience members tend to break bad on a show. Lorre called the move to Thursdays a do-over and said that, anyway, people who work on the show only think in terms of one episode at a time.
He repeated that philosophy regarding “Mike & Molly.” Much of the panel time was spent discussing the fact that the two lead characters are overweight and that they meet at (and continue to attend) Overeaters Anonymous. Lorre and Roberts insisted that the show was not about the characters being fat.
“I didn’t set out to write a show about Overeaters Anonymous,” Roberts said. “I wanted to write a show about two people at the beginning of a relationship. It’s just a show about people with problems. The reason I wanted to do a show like this was to get real people back on TV.” People’s problems, he said, were the source of television comedy. Noting that most television characters look nice and dress beautifully, Roberts added, “I don’t buy any of their problems.”
“Hopefully the humor is self-deprecating and with affection,” Lorre replied. “This isn’t a show about weight. It’s a show about people trying to make their lives better and find someone that they can have a committed relationship with. If we’re still talking about this issue come episode six, we’ve got a serious problem, because it would get tired really quickly. That’s not enough to hang a series on; not by any stretch of the imagination.”
“Everybody would like to be better than they are,” said stand-up comic Billy Gardell, who plays Mike. “Everybody’s has a different kick — mine just happens to be pizza.” After a smattering of chuckles, Gardell continued, “It’s okay. You can laugh at that. I’ve caught a mirror. Lighten up.”
“The Gilmore Girls” actress Melissa McCarthy, who plays Molly, toed the company line. “For me, the show is not about weight,” she said. She claimed to be attracted by the sitcom’s “funny and lovely” qualities and its lack of snarky humor.
I got a chance to ask Lorre and Roberts about the retro feel of the show. “Chuck and I very early on talked about ‘Marty’ as a template for this thing,” Roberts said (that film, adapted from a Paddy Chayefsky teleplay, starred Ernest Borgnine as an unmarried, 34-year-old butcher who lived with his mother in the Bronx). “And I think ‘The Honeymooners’ certainly factors into it. I do think it’s incredibly cool that we’re followed by ‘Hawaii Five-0’; that’s something nice and retro, too,” he added.
Finally, Lorre responded to a question regarding common elements in his shows. “I have felt for a long time that all shows, especially comedies, are fundamentally ‘family’ shows,” he said, noting that even co-workers in an office function as a surrogate family. The characters in “Cheers” and “Taxi,” he said, were families. “They supported each other, they knocked each other down. They were inseparable in some ways. They made each other miserable. They function together in all those ways that we experience as families.”
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TCA: CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler speaks
CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler took the stage at the Beverly Hills Hilton Wednesday morning to kick off the presentation portion of the Television Critics Association’s Summer Press Tour.
Tassler fielded questions from reporters about the network’s programming, including questions about the violence and darkness in the pilot for the “Hawaii Five-0” reboot and the network’s failing grade in GLAADS ratings for portrayals of gay and lesbian characters on television (both reality and scripted).
She seemed perplexed by the characterization of “Hawaii Five-0” as dark. I’m with Nina. While the show does open with a violent middle-east war scene, the action soon moves to the familiar island where the relationships between the characters and the island takes center stage. There’s a lot of smirky good humor from that point on, typical of many of the fall’s acton/drama offerings.
Regarding the GLAAD report, Tassler said that the network had gay and lesbian-friendly pilots in the works that did not pan out and that the network is responding by adding gay and lesbian characters to returning shows, including “The Good Wife.”
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It’s CBS day at TCA
So, here I am in the International Ballroom at the Beverly Hills Hilton in Los Angeles, waiting for CBS bigwigs to trot out their new and returning shows and stars for members of the Television Critics Association (TCA).
Just kidding.
CBS is going with a Vegas theme for their presentation, which makes sense as one of their headlining shows is the Vegas-set law dramedy “The Defenders,” starring Jim Belushi (the funniest living Belushi, as Chicago radio legend Steve Dahl calls him) and Jerry O’Connell. There are pretty showgirls, slot machines and bright lights everywhere. The better to glint off of the stars’ pearly whites, I guess.
Today I’ll be reporting on presentations for the following CBS shows:
- “The Big Bang Theory”
- “Mike & Molly”
- “New, Untitled Daytime Talk Show”
- “Hawaii Five-0”
- “The Defenders”
- “Blue Bloods”
- ”$#*! My Dad Says”
Check back here for blog posts throughout the day. I’ll also be tweeting and posting news and photos on Facebook. Follow me on Twitter here and friend me on Facebook by clicking here.
Seriously, friend me. I might need to call you … I’m one slot machine handle pull from cashing in my plane ticket home.
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I’m back, California — all is forgiven
I haven’t been to California in over 20 years.
On that trip, a pre-wedding jaunt with my soon-to-be wife, I visited a friend in Hollywood.
Hollywood!
As a child in the ‘60s and ‘70s, my notions of California were largely — no, solely — based on what television fed me: palm trees swaying in the cool, Pacific breeze; the Oscars; the Beverly Hillbillies’ mansion with that swooping, circular driveway and that cool, gray cement pond (some of my notions were in black and white); “The Wonderful Word of Disney.’ Disneyland!
My actual Hollywood experience turned out to be somewhat more gritty and noir-ish.
Sleeping on a mattress on the floor of my friend’s kitchen just off of Hollywood Boulevard, I recall bolting upright in the middle of the night to find a figure frozen on the fire escape just outside the window. I later discovered that transients had taken up residence on the roof of the dilapidated apartment building that was clearly once some kind of luxury dwelling for stars and starlets. The next morning, jet-lagged, we walked down the Boulevard, dodging broken dreams and searching for breakfast. That’s when we stumbled across a freshly bloodstained sidewalk. It turned out there had been a stabbing just blocks from my friend’s place — possibly perpetrated, I remember thinking, by that guy on the fire escape.
That night we headed for another friend’s apartment in safe, suburban Glendale and never looked back.
I think this trip, covering TV announcements at the dog-and-pony show that is the Television Critics Association Fall Tour, will be a little more sanitized. Certainly, if anything, it’ll be a lot less real (but no less surreal). As the networks trot out their new stars and returning heroes (but, thankfully, not their returning “Heroes”) for the press, I will find myself surrounded by beautiful, trendy, creative people. They will be clever and friendly. Many will be interestingly and stylishly dressed. Most will be happy, casual and relaxed. Their faces will be smiling and familiar.
And I will wonder if the plane did a mid-flight loop-de-loop and landed back in Austin.
I’ll be here for just over a week (even though the concierge told me I can check out any time I like, but I can never leave). I’ll be blogging frequently and tweeting near constantly.
Please check here or on my Facebook page for updates. And you can follow me on Twitter here.
First up, Wednesday morning, is CBS. If you’ve got any questions for the stars of “The Big Bang Theory,” “Mike and Molly,” “Hawaii Five-0” or “$#*! My Dad Says,” let me know.
But first, I need to get the lay of the land and check the roof.
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The Next Food Network Star Season Six: Episode Seven Recap
With Brad’s big win last week, we’re getting down to final few competitors on NFNS. It is still anyone’s game at this point, as none of the finalists have really pulled into the lead. For the first challenge this week, each remaining contestant is assigned a breakfast cereal, and then given twenty minutes to prepare a dinner using the cereal. As always, they are asked to present their dish to the camera.
Like almost every other week, the results are a mixed bag. Serena comes out singing ‘O Sole Mio,’ and makes the judges really uncomfortable. Aria is similarly awkward. Her decline from the first couple episodes has been impressive. Brad makes a tuna dish the judges love, but his camera presence isn’t fantastic. Aarti wins.
For the star challenge, the contestants are asked to create a supper club, as a team, for a group of Los Angeles chefs (didn’t ‘Top Chef’ already do this episode two weeks ago?). They are given one hour to shop and one hour to prep before the guests arrive. The theme the team settles on is “My L.A.,” with each dish representing a different Los Angeles neighborhood.
The whole thing is kind of a mess. Aria interrupts Aarti. Serena, again, is awkward; she prepares an average-looking pasta and the judges say as much. Brad barely gets his lamb out—it’s so raw that they end up having to grill it at the last moment—and he flubs his presentation a bit, but the food goes over well. Herb overcooks flan (doesn’t he realize that people who make dessert always get sent home?).
Aarti, who made the judge’s favorite dish, gets the win. Brad is also among their favorites. The judges still like Herb enough that he gets to stay on as well. Tom, Aria and Serena end up in the bottom. The judges are starting to get really harsh. Bob Tuschman actually says that he “has no advice left for Aria.” At the end, however, they send Serena home.
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Cedar Park woman wins injunction against ‘Cake Boss’
The Learning Channel show “Cake Boss” could be headed for a name change.
As the result of a lawsuit filed by Cedar Park woman, a Seattle District Court judge has ordered Discovery Communications to stop using the name for the show and any related merchandise pending trial.
The injunction against the use of the program’s name becomes effective within one month following the final first-run airing of the third season.
Kelley Masters, a former professional cake decorator, runs a business and website under the CakeBoss banner and sells a software product with the same name (the website distributes CakeBoss-branded cake recipes and baking tutorials, while the software assists professional cake bakers with business management, including cost tracking, recipe organization, calendaring, and invoicing customers). Masters registered the Internet domain cakeboss.com in 2006 and began selling software in 2007.
When Masters learned that The Learning Channel (a division of Discovery Networks) was planning to air a television program called “Cake Boss” in 2009, she contacted the network’s legal department. She received the response that “Discovery did not believe that a television show named ‘Cake Boss’ could be confused with a software product of the same name,” according to the lawsuit, and the network declined to change the name of the show.
Masters filed suit in March of this year and, on April 29, sought the injunction against TLC’s use of the name.
Judge Richard Jones, in his decision granting the preliminary injunction, found that Masters has lost trademark and corporate identity due to TLC’s actions. “Cake Boss appears to have simply overwhelmed CakeBoss,” he wrote. “Consumers with no evidence other than the consecutive use of the words ‘cake’ and ‘boss’ assume that Masters’ website promoting cake baking software is connected to Discovery’s television show. Masters is likely to prove that it has lost control of its product identity, its goodwill, and its ability to move into new markets.”
Masters’ suit claims that the company has received misdirected fan mail, requests for custom cakes and inquiries about the relationship between the CakeBoss website and the show. Users in online cake-related forums have attributed the website’s recipes to the program, according to court filings, and Jones noted that the CakeBoss website is often overwhelmed with visitors coinciding with the airing of a “Cake Boss” episode, at times shutting down in response to the excessive traffic. In addition, Discovery has threatened legal action in response to Masters’ sales of CakeBoss-branded products.
Jones wrote in the Court’s ruling that there’s no evidence that Discovery conducted even a rudimentary search for prior use of the brand before choosing it as the title for its program.
Discovery Networks would not respond to a request for an interview, explaining that the network does not comment on pending litigation.
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Join me at ‘Mad Men’ premiere tweet-up Sunday
So, with the lack of an official Statesman “Mad Men” premiere party (we had a great time last year at the Belmont!) I had to seek out another venue at which to gauge a group of viewer’s reactions to the excellent Season 4 premiere this Sunday, which I have already watched a couple of times — check out my low-spoiler preview here.
Fortunately, some fun and clever denizens of the social media service Twitter are having a shindig at The Brown Bar, 201 West 8th Street. It’s a perfect “Mad Men-ish” venue — Roger Sterling would most certainly approve.
If you’re a Twitter user, head on over to this link to join the guest list. The show starts at 9 p.m., but the doors open at 8. You don’t have to dress up in your best ’60s-era threads, but I get the impression that you might stand out if you don’t.
Speaking of Twitter, you can follow me by clicking here. See you Sunday?
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CBS gets lowest gay-friendly marks from GLAAD
Broadcast network CBS has landed at the bottom of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation’s annual survey of gay-friendly programming, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The survey results follow the scrutiny of nearly 5,000 hours of programming.
Cable music network MTV earned the group’s highest praise, receiving an “excellent” grade.
“From their inception, MTV programs like ‘The Real World’ and ‘America’s Best Dance Crew’ have offered richly diverse portrayals of gay and transgender people that help Americans better understand and accept our community,” GLAAD president Jarrett Barrios says in the article. He also tells the Reporter that CBS is the only broadcast network with a failing grade.
“We urge CBS President Nina Tassler to fulfill what she called in 2009, CBS’ ‘fundamental commitment to the philosophy of diversity across the schedule and representation of gays and lesbians on air’,” the article quotes Barrios as saying.
GLAAD rankings for a dozen more cable and broadcast networks can be found in the full article, here.
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CBS announces fall premiere dates
CBS has joined the other major broadcast networks in launching its 2010 fall season the week of Sept. 20 (only The CW is breaking ranks, starting a week and a half earlier) according the The Hollywood Reporter.
CBS’ “Survivor” will launch a week ahead, on Sept. 15 and returning hit law drama “The Good Wife” will be pushed back to Sept. 28 to make room for the two-hour debut of “NCIS: Los Angeles.”
Check out the complete CBS premiere week schedule after the jump.
Wednesday, Sept. 15
7:00-8:00 PM SURVIVOR: NICARAGUA (21st Edition Premiere)
Monday, Sept. 20
7:00-7:30 PM HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (6th Season Premiere)
7:30-8:00 PM RULES OF ENGAGEMENT (5th Season Premiere)
8:00-8:30 PM TWO AND A HALF MEN (8th Season Premiere)
8:30-9:00 PM MIKE & MOLLY (Series Debut)
9:00-10:00 PM HAWAII FIVE-0 (Series Debut)
Tuesday, Sept. 21
7:00-8:00 PM NCIS (8th Season Premiere)
8:00-10:00 PM NCIS: LOS ANGELES (2nd Season Premiere)
Wednesday, Sept. 22
8:00-9:00 PM CRIMINAL MINDS (6th Season Premiere)
9:00-10:00 PM THE DEFENDERS (Series Debut)
Thursday, Sept. 23
7:00-7:30 PM THE BIG BANG THEORY (4th Season Premiere)
7:30-8:00 PM $#*! MY DAD SAYS (Series Debut)
8:00-9:00 PM CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION (11th Season Premiere)
9:00-10:00 PM THE MENTALIST (3rd Season Premiere)
Friday, Sept. 24
7:00-8:00 PM MEDIUM (2nd Season Premiere on CBS)
8:00-9:00 PM CSI: NY (7th Season Premiere)
9:00-10:00 PM BLUE BLOODS (Series Debut)
Saturday, Sept. 25
7:00-8:00 PM CRIMETIME SATURDAY
8:00-9:00 PM CRIMETIME SATURDAY
9:00-10:00 PM 48 HOURS MYSTERY (Season Premiere)
Sunday, Sept. 26
6:30-7:30 PM 60 MINUTES (43rd Season Premiere)
7:30-9:00 PM THE AMAZING RACE (17th Edition Premiere)
9:00-10:00 PM UNDERCOVER BOSS (2nd Season Premiere)
Tuesday, Sept. 28
9:00-10:00 PM THE GOOD WIFE (2nd Season Premiere)
Sunday, Oct. 3
7:00-8:00 PM THE AMAZING RACE (Time Period Premiere)
8:00-9:00 PM UNDERCOVER BOSS (Time Period Premiere)
9:00-10:00 PM CSI: MIAMI (9th Season Premiere)
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TV writer Sklar to host comedy writing workshop Sunday
Is there a comedy writer inside you tryingto tunnel his or her way out? Chuck Sklar wants to help plot the escape.
I caught the deadpan Sklar at an Austin Film Festival panel last fall where he was chock full of great advice and terrific insider anecdotes about late night television’s fabled writing rooms.
Tickets for the workshop, part of the AFF’s “Conversation in Film” series, cost $8 for AFF members and $10 for non-members. To purchase tickets with your AFF membership, call (512) 478-4795. Non-members may purchase tickets and find out more about AFF memberships, by visiting the AFF website or by calling the above number.
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Betty Draper, awful mother (video)
New York Magazine has collected Betty Draper’s worst parenting moments from “Mad Men’s” first three seasons into a short video in anticipation of Sunday’s Season 4 premiere at 9 p.m. on AMC.
Check it out.
Then stop doing that.
And go upstairs.
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TWC to move access channels to digital delivery
UPDATE (2:55 p.m. Tues.): The date for the switch of the PEG stations from analog to digital is being pushed back to October 1, according to Melissa Sorola, Time Warner Cable Texas Region communications director.
We’re checking on how this will affect the request date for TWC’s digital equipment offer. Stay tuned.
The City of Austin has sent out a press release concerning Time Warner Cable’s status change on the delivery of Public, Educational, and Government access (PEG) channels.
Effective August 5, the City says, the channels will be moved to solely digital transmission. This means that subscribers who currently receive only analog broadcasts will no longer be able to view the following channels (TWC customers with digital receivers will notice no change):
City of Austin Channel 6
channelAustin - Channels 10, 11 and 16
Travis County Television Channel 17
ACC-TV Channel 19
A.I.S.D. TV Channel 22
“We recognize that cable companies will eventually migrate all channels from analog to digital but it should be done in a way that doesn’t reduce access to our local PEG channels,” said City of Austin spokesperson Rondella Hawkins. “In light of that, we want to do our best to be sure that our residents are aware of it and take the appropriate actions, so that they can continue to watch these stations, which are an important part of Austin’s community fabric.”
Read the entire press release, which includes details on how to receive digital equipment free of charge for a limited period of time, after the jump.
Time Warner Cable changing the delivery of Public, Educational, and Government access (PEG) channels
Effective August 5, 2010 Time Warner Cable customers will need digital equipment such as a digital set-top box, a CableCARD-equipped Unidirectional Digital Cable Product (UDCP), or a digital television (or other device) equipped with a QAM tuner to continue viewing Public, Educational, and Government access (PEG) channels.
Although PEG channels will remain a part of basic tier service they will only be available in digital format. Time Warner Cable customers utilizing a digital receiver will not see a change in channel line up. The channels that will be affected by this change are:
City of Austin Channel 6 channelAustin - Channels 10, 11 and 16 Travis County Television Channel 17 ACC-TV Channel 19 A.I.S.D. TV Channel 22
The City’s Office of Telecommunications and Regulatory Affairs (TARA) has expressed concerns that the move will limit access to these channels for those on the basic and standard (analog) tiers of Time Warner’s service plan. “We recognize that cable companies will eventually migrate all channels from analog to digital but it should be done in a way that doesn’t reduce access to our local PEG channels. In light of that, we want to do our best to be sure that our residents are aware of it and take the appropriate actions, so that they can continue to watch these stations, which are an important part of Austin’s community fabric,” said TARA Officer Rondella Hawkins.
Standard service customers can receive a single standard-definition digital set-top box and remote control at no cost for 12 months if they contact Time Warner Cable within 60 days from August 5th. For those receiving basic service only, Time Warner Cable will provide one digital box at no charge through 2015. Those who have more than one analog TV will have to pay a monthly rental fee for each additional digital box requested if they wish to continue seeing the PEG channels on all TV sets. This change may also affect digital-tier subscribers who have analog TV sets not now receiving digital programming. Those subscribers would be required to rent additional digital boxes in order to view PEG channels on those sets.
“This is a particular concern for us because of the upcoming state legislative session, which is carried live on Channel 6, and because of the number of residents who access our Council meetings and other proceedings on the station,” said Hawkins.
City of Austin Channel 6 programming is available on-line at www.cityofaustin.org/channel6 and at www.youtube.com/austintexasgov. Channel 6 is also available on Grande Communications Channel 6 and AT&T U-Verse Channel 99.
To inquire about a digital set-top box, contact Time Warner Cable at 512-485-6000.
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City of Austin wins VH1 ‘Do Something’ award
We did something!
The City of Austin was honored during Monday’s “Do Something Awards” on cable music channel VH1. Hosted by “Glee” star Jane Lynch, the program recognizes the nation’s best world-changers. According to VH1, “the Do Something Award is the premiere national award for social action. Nominees and winners represent the pivotal “do-ers” in their field, cause, or issue.”
Austin was nominated for being “the new frontier for young Americans because of its wealth of new business opportunities. Austin is also leading the nation in car sharing programs and encourages biking as a primary form of transportation.” You can find a complete list of nominees and winners here.
We beat out Portland, Oregon; Greensburg, Kansas; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Boston, Massachusetts. So pat yourself on the back, Austin, then get back to work making the world a better place.
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‘Jersey Shore’ strike might be ending
The stalemate that has held up production of the new season of MTV’s “Jersey Shore” might be coming to an end.
JWoww (Jenni Farley), Ronnie (Ortiz-Magro), Sammi (“Sweetheart” Giancola), Pauly D (Paul DelVecchio), Vinny (Guadagnino) and Snooki (Nicole Polizzi) apparently couldn’t get by on the $10,000 per episode the cable network had been dishing out. The Hollywood Reporter claims that cast members were lobbying for $30,000 per episode and says the network’s counter-offer is close enough to that figure to get the cast back to work.
With that much money, these mooks are sort of the modern equivalent of “The Beverly Hillbillies,” aren’t they? If this deal falls through, somebody should get Milburne Drysdale on the ringer pronto.
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The Next Food Network Star Season Six: Episode Six Recap
With the number of contestants dwindling, things are starting to get a bit more competitive between Brad, Aarti, Aria and the rest of the Food Network gang. This week’s episode starts with a focus on Brad, who barely made it through last week. In the first challenge, each contestant is assigned a picnic basket containing a set of themed ingredients. Brad draws the bachelorette party basket; Brianna gets a 5-year-old’s birthday. When it comes time to present their dishes to the judges, Brad is cool and collected and his food goes over well (finally!). Tom does well too, and he and Brad both win an advantage in the final (and earn a spot on Food Network’s new cooking channel).
For the star challenge this week, ‘Chopped’ host Ted Allen explains that they will be assigned a classic ‘retro’ dish, which they will need to reinterpret and serve at the former home of Frank Sinatra in Palm Springs. Brad and Tom, as winners of the first challenge, get to choose which dish they will prepare. They also get to assign dishes to their competitors. Brad picks chicken cordon bleu.
The dishes are mixed. Aria, who is tasked with reinterpreting pigs in a blanket, goes with shrimp instead; the judges are confused. Aarti prepares a curry in place of deviled eggs, but the judges don’t feel like there was much curry there. Herb prepares a variation on beef stroganoff, which doesn’t go over well, though they emphasize that they like his personality. Brad, in a complete turnaround from last week, references ‘My Way’ and wows everyone.
Brad is declared the winner. Serena, Tom, and Aria are also safe. Aarti, Herb and Brianna end up on the bottom, and the judges send Brianna home. It’s looking like Brad has a good deal of momentum at this point; we’ll see if he can keep it up next week.
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This week’s TV picks
Monday:
‘The Bachelorette’ 7 p.m., ABC: And then there were three. It’s sailing in Tahiti for Ali and her trio of erstwhile suitors.
‘Do Something Awards’ 8 p.m., VH1: Austin is one of the nominees for “Do Something City” for leading the nation in car sharing programs and encouraging biking as a primary form of transportation. I can’t wait to hear our acceptance speech if we win; I bet it will be weird.
Tuesday:
‘Most Extreme Airports’ 7 p.m., History: Okay, I think we’re scraping the bottom of the “extreme” barrel.
‘Downfall’ 8 p.m., ABC: Season one wraps up with contestants and prizes hurled over the side of a skyscraper.
‘Cupcake Wars’ 8 p.m., Food: Tonight features cupcakes made to raise awareness for a cause. I’ll bet the cause is not obesity.
‘PBS Previews: Circus’ 10:30 p.m., PBS: Check out this sneak peak of the fascinating 6-hour documentary series exploring life behind the big top.
‘Deadliest Catch: Captain Phil Tribute’ 9 p.m., Discovery: This special episode salutes the show’s Capt. Phil Harris, who died in February.
Wednesday:
‘Confessions: Animal Hoarding’ 8 p.m., Animal Planet: I’m disappointed. I thought this new series was going to be about animals with hoarding disorders, such as a Rottweiler who has 270 bones in his doghouse. Instead it’s just about a man who has 30 cats.
‘American Masters’ 8 p.m., PBS: Outlaw Merle Haggard, ‘the poet of the working man,’ is the subject of this documentary featuring Kris Kristofferson, Keith Richards and Tanya Tucker.
Thursday:
‘Ace of Cakes’ 9 p.m., Food: A ‘Knight Rider’-inspired cake is baked. Then David Hasselhoff stumbles and falls onto it.
‘Live from the Artist’s Den’ 9 p.m., PBS: Singer-songwriter David Gray performs from New York City’s Broad Street Ballroom.
Friday:
‘Friday Night Lights’ 7 p.m., NBC: The Lions lack focus and Tami finds herself embroiled in controversy, while Vince tries to get out of a deal.
‘Whale Wars’ 8 p.m., Animal Planet: The Bob Barker develops a leak. Stop giggling; it’s a ship.
‘Eureka’ 8 p.m., Syfy: Anger becomes contagious and the entire town mobilizes to keep Mel Gibson out.
Saturday:
‘Dogs vs. Cats’ 7 p.m., Animal Planet: The age-old debate is waged here … cats — worse than dogs or much worse than dogs?
Sunday:
‘Food Network Challenge’ 7 p.m., Food Network: Paranormal cakes are created. I love things that go ‘yum’ in the night.
‘Mad Men’ 9 p.m., AMC: A fast-paced Season 4 opener finds Don struggling to toot his own horn, Pete and Peggy engaging in questionable stunts behind his back, difficult clients and potential new love interests.
‘My Boys’ 9 p.m., TBS: Season 4 kicks off with the search for a new poker buddy.
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TBS slates week long Steinbrenner ‘Seinfeld’ tribute
TBS (they know comedy!) is running 10 episodes of “Seinfeld” that feature the character of George Steinbrenner (the Yankees’ owner died July 13). The tribute begins with “The Opposite,” the classic episode in which George Costanza (Jason Alexander) lands a job with the Yankees by following a philosophy of doing the opposie of every natural instinct he’s got. The final tribute episode, “The Muffin Tops,” ends with George losing that job.
The Steinbrenner caricature, always seen sitting at his desk from behind, was voiced by Seinfeld creator Larry David.
Here’s the lineup:
Monday, July 19
6 p.m. - “The Opposite” - George convinces Steinbrenner to give him a job.
6:30 p.m. - “The Secretary” - George finds out Steinbrenner’s secretary makes more than he does.
Tuesday, July 20
6 p.m. - “The Race” - George heads to Cuba to recruit baseball players for Steinbrenner.
6:30 p.m. - “The Wink” - Steinbrenner lists all the people he’s fired over the years.
Wednesday, July 21
6 p.m. - “The Hot Tub” - Steinbrenner convinces George that a hot tub is the perfect way to relieve stress.
6:30 p.m. - “The Caddy” - George’s father (Jerry Stiller) confronts Steinbrenner about a traded player.
Thursday, July 22
6 p.m. - “The Calzone” - Steinbrenner gets the idea to put Yankees clothes in a pizza oven.
6:30 p.m. - “The Nap” - George’s napping habits at work lead Steinbrenner to think he has ESP.
Friday, July 23
6 p.m. - “The Millennium” - George does everything he can to get fired, but Steinbrenner loves what he does.
6:30 p.m. - “The Muffin Tops” - George’s relationship with the Yankees finally ends when Steinbrenner trades him.
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Tasty lunchtime TV links
Here’s a lunchtime roundup of TV topics around the ‘net:
Former Beatle (they were a popular musical group in the ’60s) Paul McCartney took a swipe at Former President (that person is the leader of the free world) Bush in a concert taped recently at the White House. Referring to President Obama, the cute Beatle said, “It’s great to have a president who knows what a library is.” That comment will be edited out of the performance’s PBS broadcast on July 28.
Emmy nominations for news and documentary programming have been announced. PBS leads the pack with 37 nods; CBS nabs 31 nominations; NBC captured 17; and ABC garnered nine. The full list, including nominations for the cable networks, can be found here.
The strikedown of the FCC’s regulations on indecency this week (a federal appeals court ruled that they were “unconstitutionally vague”) means that the trend toward sexier television will continue — and perhaps accelerate.
Why do some underdogs take home Emmy trophies? Why do others win year after year? It can all come down to which episodes the nominees submit, according to the Los Angeles Times’ Tom O’Neil.
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AT&T and Rainbow Media solve carriage crisis
A joint statement from AT&T and Rainbow Media marks the end of the latest carriage crisis. A deadline of midnight Wednesday passed without a resolution, but the parties were able to come to terms today. At stake was programming for U-verse customers from IFC, WE tv and AMC — including the wildly popular “Mad Men,” which begins its fourth season on Sunday, July 25.
The companies have been engaged in a war of words in the form of crawls that appeared over potentially affected programming urging customers to call toll-free numbers and visit websites in support of either side.
Here’s the statement:
We are happy to report that AMC, IFC and WE tv will remain on AT&T U-verse TV. We’re very satisfied that we were able to reach the fair deal we wanted for our customers — one that includes the right content, across platforms, at prices that are in line with the marketplace, and that helps us with important strategic content initiatives. We are very grateful to our customers for their support.
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NBC announces fall premiere dates
When are your favorite NBC shows (and your potential new favorite NBC shows) hitting the airwaves? Mark Sept. 20 on your calendar. The week kicks off with the returning “Chuck” Monday at 7 p.m. and ends with the new Jimmy Smits drama “Outlaw” at 9 p.m Friday, Sept . 24.
Check out the complete list of all the shows in between at Zap2It.com.
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The latest on AT&T/Rainbow carriage dispute
The good news: That annoying crawl that AT&T was intermittently running across the top of U-verse channels implying that Rainbow Media was trying to take them away from viewers seems to have disappeared.
The bad news: It’s been replaced with Rainbow’s own crawl, this one creeping horizontally across the middle of the screen. “At any moment tonight,” it reads, “AT&T may drop AMC from your service.” It implores viewers to call a toll-free number to save “Mad Men and your favorite movies” (the season 4 premiere of “Mad Men” airs on July 25).
The two parties failed to come to a carriage agreement before the existing contract expired at midnight, but U-verse continues to show programming from IFC, WE TV and AMC. If you’re one of AT&T’s 2.3 million U-verse subscribers, stay tuned.
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“Beavis and Butt-head” rumor just shy of official confirmation
Neither MTV nor Austinite Mike Judge’s camp is commenting, but the New York Post reports that sources inside MTV have confirmed that the rumored return of “Beavis and Butt-head” is more than a rumor.
The animated series featuring two crude and crudely-animated high-school misfits providing commentary during popular MTV music videos first appeared on the network in 1993. It later spawned a feature film and a spin-off series, “Daria,” also for MTV.
The Post suggests, interestingly, that the series’ return could be a back-door tactic to increase the number of music videos on the station. Certainly the current popular music landscape would provide endless comic fodder for Judge’s miscreant mouthpieces.
We’ll keep you posted on official word from MTV and Judge.
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AT&T vs. Rainbow dispute goes down to the wire
As the carriage dispute between Rainbow Media and AT&T goes down to the wire (the provider’s contract to carry Rainbow’s channels expires at midnight tonight) each side is playing public relations games. Meanwhile, the availability of channels including AMC, WE tv and IFC hangs in the balance, eleven days before the Season 4 premiere of AMC’s “Mad Men.”
AT&T’s most recent statement:
We are making every effort to reach a fair agreement and continue providing these channels to our customers. It’s unfortunate that Rainbow Media, owned by Cablevision, is clearly not negotiating in good faith, is trying to charge significantly more than the average of what our TV competitors pay for these channels, and is acting in a way that harms competition and limits consumer choice. We’ve made numerous proposals to reach a fair resolution before our current contract with Cablevision’s Rainbow Media expires at midnight on July 14. However, Cablevision’s Rainbow Media has quickly rejected each of them without any meaningful consideration, instead making unreasonable proposals that give it an unfair competitive advantage. We don’t want customers to lose their programming. We’re fighting for a fair deal because our customers deserve the programming they want, at a fair price. We want to reach an agreement that is fair to our subscribers and for all parties.
Rainbow Media’s most recent statement:
Our executives have been at AT&T U-Verse offices for several weeks, doing everything possible to reach an agreement that will keep AMC’s ‘Mad Men,’ and other programming from AMC, WE tv and IFC available to their customers. We have been good partners and have been supportive of AT&T since they launched their U-Verse service. We are proud of the programming that we produce at our networks, which has created great value for AT&T. We have agreements with every other television provider in the country and have never had our networks dropped in more than 25 years. We are disappointed that AT&T is publicly threatening to take away our networks, including AMC’s ‘Mad Men,’ just days before the season premiere.
AT&T’s dispute site
Rainbow’s dispute site
I’d like to know who you think is in the wrong here. Please leave your comments, below. I’m not picking sides, but I must admit that I am becoming increasingly annoyed at the propaganda crawl that keeps appearing on my screen while I’m trying to watch programs via U-verse. Either way, that should go away soon.
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Steinbrenner liked ‘Seinfeld’ caricature
Among the highlights:
- Steinbrenner turned down an offer from Seinfeld and David to appear as himself but he okayed the use of a double.
- He did appear as himself in the final episode of the seventh season, in which Susan died after licking toxic envelopes, but his scene was cut for time.
- Steinbrenner told People Magazine that his grandchildren enjoyed his Seinfeld caricature.
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Fox announces fall premiere dates
The Fox television network has announced the fall premiere dates for its new and returning shows. Here are the highlights:
“Lone Star” (new) Monday, Sept. 20
“Raising Hope” (new) and “Running Wilde” (new) Tuesday, Sept. 21
“House” Monday, September 20
“Glee” Tuesday, September 21
“Hell’s Kitchen” Wednesday, September 22
“Bones” and Fringe” Thursday, September 23
“Human Target” and “The Good Guys” Friday, September 24
Animation Domination Sunday, September 26
Check out the Fox press release after the jump.
FOX has set the fall premiere dates for its new and returning series. The 2010-2011 season on FOX will kick off with a special premiere week beginning Monday, Sept. 20. HOUSE and the Princeton Plainsboro team return for a seventh season Monday, Sept. 20 (7:00-8:00 PM) followed by the series premiere of the sophisticated and provocative drama LONE STAR (8:00-9:00 PM). This fall, Tuesdays feature a night of pitch-perfect comedy beginning Sept. 21 with the highly anticipated return of GLEE (7:00-8:00 PM) and the series premieres of new family comedy RAISING HOPE (8:00-8:30 PM) and new romantic comedy RUNNING WILDE (8:30-9:00 PM) starring Will Arnett and Keri Russell. On Wednesday, Sept. 22, things heat up for Gordon Ramsay in the two-hour premiere of the eighth season of HELL’S KITCHEN (7:00-9:00 PM). The thrill is on Thursdays when BONES (7:00-8:00 PM) and FRINGE (8:00-9:00 PM) return beginning Sept. 23.
Action-packed weekends kick off Fridays with the return of HUMAN TARGET (7:00-8:00 PM) and the time period premiere of THE GOOD GUYS (8:00-9:00 PM) on Sept. 24. Saturdays are still the most arresting night of television with the season premieres of COPS (7:00-7:30 and 7:30-8:00 PM) - celebrating its milestone 800th episode - and AMERICA’S MOST WANTED (8:00-9:00 PM) on Sept. 11. Sundays are side-splittingly funny when ANIMATION DOMINATION makes its return Sept. 26 with the season premieres of THE SIMPSONS (7:00-7:30 PM), THE CLEVELAND SHOW (7:30-8:00 PM) and a one-hour special installment of FAMILY GUY (8:00-9:00 PM). AMERICAN DAD will mark its milestone 100th episode with its season premiere Sunday, Oct. 3 (8:30-9:00 PM). In addition, LIE TO ME continues to reveal the truth Wednesday, Nov. 10 (7:00-8:00 PM).
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“Live Aid” was 25 years ago. Feel old yet?
Al Gore may have invented the Internet but Boomtown Rats frontman Bob Geldof connected the world on July 13, 1985. It’s natural to remember the continents-spanning concert as a musical milestone, but “Live Aid” was also a global television event. At one time, this article from MTV says, 95 percent of the world’s television sets were tuned in to Live Aid. That’s before the age of the Internet, cell phones, e-mail, text messaging, streaming video and Twitter.
The global concert was an offshoot of the UK music celeb-studded single, “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” which Geldof wrote and produced to aid African famine relief efforts. As the article points out, that project influenced a number of other projects including USA for Africa’s “We Are the World,” Canada’s “Tears Are Not Enough” and songs from France, Spain, South Africa, Holland, Australia, Jamaica and Belgium. And we can probably count fictional rocker Aldous Snow (“Get Him to the Greek”), who recorded the horrible “African Child.”
The article dips briefly into the satellite technology and Concorde jetting required to pull off simultaneous stadium concerts in London and Philly.
Check out CNN’s slide show and interview with former MTV veejay Mark Goodman here.
And please share your Live Aid memories below in the comments.
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The Next Food Network Star Season Six: Episode Five Recap
After a week off due to the holiday, the ‘Next Food Network Star’ returned this week with a special 90-minute episode. To make things even more special, this week marked the half-way point of the season. This wasn’t exactly welcome news for our remaining contestants, as that meant they would each receive a ‘midterm’ progress report from the judges.
Last time, we left off with Austin cook Brad seemingly on the rise. Based on the teasers Food Network has been showing, we already know that this week’s big challenge involves food carts (and special guest Paula Deen), a pretty central part of Austin’s food scene at the moment. Brad should have an advantage here.
Before they got to the carts, though, the contestants were asked to develop a product they could sell in a grocery store, and to prepare something using that product before a live audience. A lot of the contestants made some type of tomato sauce (do we really need more celebrity chef-branded tomato sauce?); Brad went with an onion marmalade, which he used to dress a pork chop. Unfortunately (and unsurprisingly), he froze up in front of the audience. Tom and Aarti were voted the winners, earning them an advantage in the next challenge.
Brad didn’t fare much better with the food cart challenge. Partnered with Aria, who surged early in the show but hasn’t been very impressive as of late, they prepared sliders and hotdogs. Bobby Flay was less than impressed with Brad’s overcooked slider, and Paula commented that her 6-year-old grandson could have made the hotdog they offered. Ouch.
Fortunately, they weren’t as bad as some of the others, and Paul was sent home. It’s impressive that he made it this far. As for Brad, his midterm evaluation said the same thing the judges have been saying all along—he has the potential to succeed, but his camera presence isn’t cutting it. While there are probably a few more contestants that will be eliminated before Brad, he really needs to improve or he’ll be next.
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This Week’s TV picks
Monday:
‘Extreme Forensics’ 8 p.m., ID: I know it’s not, but I like to imagine this series is about people who do autopsies while skydiving and stuff.
‘The Closer’ 8 p.m., TNT: Season 6 starts off with a bang as Brenda investigates a shooting death while the squad relocates to high-tech, new digs.
‘Rizzoli & Isles’ 9 p.m., TNT: They’re like this decade’s ‘Cagney & Lacey!’ (Google it). Series premiere.
‘Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations’ 9 p.m., Travel: Ton’s quest for heartland food includes a stop in Austin.
Tuesday:
‘2010 MLB All-Star Game’ 7 p.m., FOX: Are you ready for some football? Well, sorry, this is a baseball game.
‘White Collar’ 8 p.m., USA: Peter and Neal match wits with a sophisticated bank robber in the 2nd season opener. You can tell he’s sophisticated because he extends his pinky while cracking safes.
‘Covert Affairs’ 9 p.m., USA: Piper Perabo stars as an FBI field agent in the series premiere of this action-packed drama.
‘The Hills’ 9 p.m., MTV: It’s over! It’s over! Whoops, the people downstairs are yelling at me to stop jumping up and down. Series finale, folks.
‘The City’ 9:30 p.m., MTV: It’s over! It’s over! Oh, wait, only the second season is over.
Wednesday:
‘Lucy Must Be Traded, Charlie Brown’ 7 p.m., ABC: Chuck tries to trade Lucy to Peppermint Patty, but she wants Snoopy, too. And there’s probably the salary cap and free agency to contend with, too. This is the prequel to ‘Snoopy Stole Derek Jeter’s Girlfriend, Charlie Brown!’
‘The 2010 Espys’ 8 p.m., ESPN: ‘Saturday Night Live’s’ Seth Meyers honors athletes in Los Angeles at the 18th annual awards.
‘Chasing Mummies’ 9 p.m., History: I’m pretty sure the key to catching them is getting them to trip on the toilet paper they’re wrapped in. That’s how the bullies always caught me on Halloween. Series premiere.
‘Psych’ 9 p.m., USA: Shawn and Gus are back for a 6th season. Okay, it’s only the 5th season. Psych!
Thursday:
‘Mary Knows Best’ 8 p.m., Syfy: I hope it’s not that Mary who shows up in the mirror when you say her name three times, but this is Syfy, so who knows? Series premiere.
‘Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files’ 9 p.m., Syfy: This new series follows a team that attempts to authenticate or disprove Internet videos. I hope the cats on the treadmills are real.
‘The Green Room with Paul Provenza’ 9:30 p.m., Showtime: Tommy Smothers, Martin Mull and Penn Jillette wrap up the inaugural season of this comedian chat fest.
Friday:
‘The Jensen Project’ 7 p.m., NBC: Brady Smith and Kellie Martin go after a bad guy and bring their family closer together in this TV movie.
‘Man, Woman, Wild’ 8 p.m., Discovery: The Amazon jungle is explored in tonight’s series premiere.
‘DC Cupcakes’ 9 p.m., TLC: Sisters who own a bakery build ridiculous stuff out of cupcakes. I wonder if they’re shaped like Legos? (I mean the cupcakes, not the sisters).
Saturday:
‘Persons Unknown’ 7 p.m., NBC: This spooky, limited summer series moves from Monday nights due to low ratings.
‘Celebrity Ghost Stories’ 8 p.m., Bio: If anything here is dead, it’s the careers of these B-list actors. 2nd season premiere.
‘Goblin’ 8 p.m. Syfy: The middle of July seems like an odd time to run a Halloween movie, but then again we do most of our goblin at Thanksgiving.
Sunday:
‘On the Case with Paula Zahn’ 9 p.m., ID: Season 2 concludes.
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Anner advances in Oprah contest, but where did his votes go?
Update: Beth Gebhard, Director of Publicity & Communications for the Oprah Winfrey Network, called at 4:50 p.m. on Friday to explain the discrepancy in voting totals.
She said that an independent third party was hired to scour Web server logs to determine which votes were authentic and which were invalid, having been cast as the result of automated means or originating from foreign IP addresses and external invalid links. All votes outisde of the rules were eliminated, she explained, and all of the contestants’ vote totals fluctuated — some up and some down. Those whose vote totals increased were the beneficiaries of votes that were cast but had somehow been blocked, Gebhard said.
The reason the top eight vote-getters were advanced, instead of only the top 5, was that those eight contestants all remained in the top eight both before and after the verification process.
“Our goal was always to find good, talented people,” Gebhard added.
Original text:
Austinite Zach Anner has advanced to the next round in media mogul Oprah Winfrey’s quest to find a new show and host for her upcoming Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN).
Anner, the self-described “wheelchair-bound lady magnet” with cerebral palsy pitched a travel show in his hilarious video submission.
Earlier, some controversy was sparked when Anner, the clear voting favorite for much of the contest, was suddenly surpassed by another contestant who receieved a mysterious surge in vote totals.
Voting practices and tallying continue to be a cause for concern: While Anner’s page on the site shows his as the most popular entry with a vote tally of 9,161,042, the results page shows him only receiving 3,484,018 votes, good enough for a 7th-place finish. While only the top 5 online vote-getters were guaranteed to advance to the next round of auditions later this month in Los Angeles, the site says that producers decided to include three more, sending the top eight contestants onto the next round.
A press release from the Oprah Winfrey Network contained the following:
During the verification process, the final vote counts fluctuated, as votes that could not be authenticated were eliminated from the competition. The verification process did not change the top 8 applicants with the most votes online.
Here are screen grabs showing Anner’s vote total before verification and his final ranking on the website.
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Dear Emmy voters: WTF (why the face?)
Did you hear that “Friday Night Lights” was nominated for four Emmy awards Thursday? If you missed it, scroll down: Thursday was all “FNL” all the time on the ol’ TV Blog.
In addition to my front page wrap-up in today’s Austin American-Statesman, I conducted interviews with casting nominee Beth Sepko (she was also nominated for her work on the HBO film “Temple Grandin,” also shot locally) and “FNL” star Connie Britton, who plays principal Tami Taylor on the family football drama.
In all my excitement about “FNL” finally getting some much-deserved recognition, I didn’t have a chance to comment on the rest of the nominations. So here are some more or less random thoughts:
Emmy voters aren’t stupid.
Even they found a way to ride Betty White’s coattails, nominating the Snickers Super Bowl commercial that kick-started her career, leading to a fan-demanded hosting gig on “Saturday Night Live” (she was nominated for that, too) and a new sitcom, “Hot in Cleveland,” on TV Land.
Emmy voters are stupid.
Where was John Noble’s name in the Best Supporting Actor category? The “Fringe” star turned in one of the most complex, compelling characterizations of the year as Walter on “Fringe” — easily one of the top five. Sure, you’ve got to appreciate the nods for Michael Emerson and Terry O’Quinn on “Lost,” even if the show’s final season was one of its weakest. And John Slattery’s Roger Sterling (“Mad Men”) is brilliant. But Noble can go toe-to-toe with any of them. Somebody tweeted that Noble’s work must have been nominated in the alternate universe. If you get that reference, you know why Noble deserved the nomination. If you’re scratching your head, start watching “Fringe.” If you’re still reading, I love you.
Emmy voters have a sense of humor.
Those present during the live nominations audibly gasped when “The Tonight Show” nabbed a nomination for Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Series. “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien.” Who was fired from “The Tonight Show.” Conan’s writers couldn’t have crafted a more perfect punch line to last season’s late night TV debacle. The only way it will be sweeter is if Conan wins.
Emmy voters have no sense of humor.
One of the first things I did after opening up the full list of Emmy nominations was to run a search for the term “Community” so that I could see how many nominations the stunningly original and hilarious NBC Thursday night comedy had nabbed. My word processor returned the saddest sentence ever written: “Word has finished searching the document. The search item was not found.” Really? “Community” might have taken half a season to find its footing, but it delivered the most hilarious and creative comedy of the entire year — and that’s no small feat when you realize that Chevy Chase is in the cast. Almost anyone else in the ensemble could have gotten acting nods and the writing and direction in the “Modern Warfare” episode — the one about paintball — was the best of any half-hour comedy in years. Yes, “Modern Family” deserves to win and, yes, “Nurse Jackie” is a nice (and deserving) surprise. But “The Office” is nearly unwatchable and “30 Rock” has seen better days, too. And then there’s “Glee.”
What’s the deal with “Glee?”
I will admit that I’m no longer a fan. I appreciated the novelty of the series in its initial half season. But since its return this spring, the show has become tedious and repetitive. The acting is fine, but most of the characterizations are so one-note (no pun intended) that it just can’t be that hard to do. And the writing is awful: a good show creates plots that work in service to the characters. “Glee’s” characters are bent and twisted in contortions even the cheerios couldn’t pull off to serve its increasingly tortured, convoluted, repetitive and stupid plotlines. It’s never a good sign when I start forwarding through musical numbers and Sue’s 500th joke about Will Schuester’s hair, and I can only justify freeze-framing the picture and staring at Jayma Mays for so long before my family starts asking questions. 19 nominations? Outstanding Comedy? (Is “Glee” supposed to be funny?) Inexplicable.
What’s the deal with Tony Shalhoub?
He’s been nominated seven times and he’s taken home three statues for his portrayal of Adrian Monk. Enough is enough. “Monk” was past its prime years ago and his perennial nominations have led Emmy voters to stiff more worthy nominees. This year it’s “Community’s” Joel McHale. Shalhoub’s continued recognition is the big joke and secret shame of the Emmys. Since “Monk” has been cancelled, it will be interesting to see how the Academy members manage to nominate him for this character again next year (come on — you know they’ll find a way).
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Connie Britton reacts to Emmy nomination
“Thank you! Go Austin! Woooo!”
“Friday Night Lights” star Connie Britton is pretty chipper for an actress who works into the wee hours. But, then, she’s just been nominated for a lead actress Emmy award.
“I was shaking. I was in shock,” she says. “I mean, I really … I was like, ‘no.’ I actually thought it might have been a mistake at first, like, ‘are you sure?’ ”
Britton got the news from a cousin who lives in New York — the actress counts her among her biggest fans. “She’s always into what’s happening in terms of, you know, Oscars and Emmys and all that. She was probably one of the few people who were actually up watching it. And so, of all people, she was the first to call me. And then my publicist called after that. But it was so great to hear it from her and she was so excited for me.”
The family football drama, filmed in and around Austin, has always been low-rated, in spite of consistent critical acclaim. So although Britton was aware that the nominations would be announced this morning, she wasn’t expecting a nod.
“Are you kidding? After three years of this? I think we had really gotten to a point where we just didn’t think that the show was really going to be on the Emmys radar,” she says, and she seems to be at peace with that. “ I mean, we just love our show so much and the critics have been so great and the fans have been so amazing and so supportive. And so, it’s one of those things where it’s like, well, you can’t win ‘em all. So it was just such a wonderful, complete surprise.”
Britton’s also glad she was in Austin when she got the news. “Austin has been such a big part of this,” she says, “and we have just loved being here so much and so I feel like, in a way, it’s an acknowledgement for all of us.”
The accolades are all the sweeter because, although a fifth season has yet to air, production on filming that season is winding down. “It’s been a little bit melancholy, like the show is really ending and it’s going to be a big change. So just to have this completely surprising acknowledgement of the show for me and for Kyle, but really, I think, of the show — even though the show didn’t get nominated — it’s just a great feeling.”
She’s especially happy that co-star Chandler joined her on the list of nominees.
“It kind of leaves me speechless, frankly,” she admits. “I just feel that we’ve been such partners in this from the beginning and have loved every minute of it and so it’s just so, so, so thrilling that we get to share this together.”
The show’s Emmy snubs are legendary and Britton claims to have no idea why she and Chandler were nominated this year in particular. But in addition to a strong story line that, in many ways, felt like a complete reboot, satellite television provider DirecTV (which produces the show in conjunction with NBC Universal) pushed hard for Emmy recognition, sending the complete fourth season to Emmy voters.
When I ask Britton how her character, Tami Taylor, would react to a similar honor, she reflexively slips into a drawl.
“I think Tami Taylor would be really honored. Real honored,” she laughs, “And feel like it was very nice to have her hard work acknowledged.”
She giggles and then sums it all up: “At the end of the day, the Taylors are just hard-workin’ people.”
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The ‘FNL’ Emmys push
Yes, “Friday Night Lights” got a bigger Emmys push this year, but key to the nominations for Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler was simply the quality of their performances, says TV Squad.
After the jump, read our June story about the Emmys campaign.
Clear eyes. Full hearts. Can’t win.
The critically acclaimed “Friday Night Lights,” shot in and around Austin, can’t get a break with Emmy voters. Oh, there was that 2007 win for Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series and a handful of other casting, directing and short subject nominations but, in spite of Peabody Awards, laurels from the Television Critics of America — even a Humanitas prize — the DirecTV/NBC drama remains the Rodney Dangerfield of Emmy-eligible television programming.
So this year (to get the obligatory football analogy out of the way) the cable operator and broadcast network have teamed up to mount a strong offense in an effort to push Coach Taylor and company into the end zone. In a move that’s rare in Emmy campaigns, the cable operator — which aired the fourth season on its 101 Network before it was shown on NBC — has sent all 13 episodes to the Television Academy’s members “for their consideration” (the members review submitted episodes of TV programming and their votes determine the nominees for the annual Emmy Awards).
A little background: “Friday Night Lights” debuted on NBC in fall 2006. A second season renewal followed, but it was cut short by the 2007-2008 writers’ strike. Facing possible cancellation, the show was saved by the deal struck between NBC and DirecTV to share production costs in exchange for first-run episodes airing on DirecTV’s 101 Network.
“As a studio, we try to treat all of our shows fairly, and we send out one mailer and it includes 16 different shows,” explains Curt King, who oversees publicity for Universal Media Studios, the network arm of the “FNL” team. So though Universal’s Emmy packet includes an episode of “Friday Night Lights,” it also sports programming such as “30 Rock,’ “The Office,” “House,” late-night shows and so on.
“So Direc really thought — and they worked with us very closely on it — why not send all episodes?” King says. “Let’s send the whole 13 episodes to the Academy members because we believe if those 14,000 voters see it, they will absolutely be compelled to nominate the show for Outstanding Drama, etc.”
“We wanted to be sure that we did give the Academy members the opportunity to actually watch it, and the best way for them to be able to watch it is to get it into their hands, not to ask them to record it or to tune in,” explains Patty Ishimoto, vice president of entertainment and general manager of the 101 Network.
Sending out a full season is rare, but it has been done before, and it has resulted in nominations. In a May 25 blog (goldderby.latimes.com), the Los Angeles Times’ Tom O’Neil, who performs forensics on these “for your consideration” packets, says that Showtime was the first to try the full-season push, sending out a full season of “Huff” in 2005 and gaining seven Emmy nominations and one win — Blythe Danner for supporting actress. FX followed with a full season of “The Shield,” netting acting nominations for Glenn Close and CCH Pounder, O’Neil wrote. The same network sent the full freshman season of “Rescue Me,” receiving writing and directing nods.
DirecTV hired a firm, Yes Design Group, to wrap a pretty and persuasive package, which includes nearly two-dozen effusive quotes from critics and fans. Perhaps the most pointed:
” … will FNL’s high quality be both maintained and finally rewarded with the Emmys the show so deserves?” Entertainment Weekly Universal Media Studios supported the gambit with the creation of a plea from fans incorporating still shots and video snippets to drum up buzz. (The video can be viewed at at http://bit.ly/fnlfanvid.)
“Yes Design … reached out to fans who were, like, in droves eager to do everything they could to support ‘Friday Night Lights,’” King says, adding that “hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of fans” took the time to participate. “It was pretty overwhelming. As we expected, people are very, very passionate about that show.”
But what’s the benefit of Emmy nominations or even wins for a show that is widely thought to be filming its final season? Both NBC and DirecTV deny that there’s any conscious effort to use Emmy attention to extend the show or to make the 101 Network an original drama destination the way shows such as “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad” did for cable network AMC.
“That’s not the reason we’re getting behind it,” Ishimoto says. “It really is just that we wanted to let it shine.”
King agrees.
“We feel that incredible work deserves recognition,” he says. “The show does incredible work and we feel it can’t garner enough recognition and attention for that.”
We’ll see if the effort pays off when Emmy nominations are announced July 8. It could happen — the Biography channel is pushing its episode on Rodney Dangerfield to Emmy voters, too.
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Austin casting director reacts to Emmy nods
Austin casting director Beth Sepko was on the phone this morning when I called to get a reaction to her dual Emmy nominations, but not with somebody offering congratulations — she was talking to an agent who hadn’t even heard the news. “Friday Night Lights” was calling for an actor for Thursday’s shoot, so Sepko was hard at work. It’s that kind of ethic that has netted her four straight ‘FNL’ casting nods.
And she might have been one of the first to get the news. “The call time on set today for ‘Friday Night Lights’ is 4 p.m., so everyone’s asleep,” she laughed.
In spite (or perhaps because) of her routine nominations for extras casting on the show, Sepko claimed to be taken off guard. “We work really hard. I’m so proud of the actors and they make me look good,” she said. “But I was definitely surprised to be recognized four years in a row for ‘Friday Night Lights’. Honestly, I thought if I had a chance at a nomination, it was for ‘Temple Grandin’.” The HBO movie was shot in and around Austin.
Sepko definitely plans to attend this year’s ceremony. “Absolutely! Two nomination — are you kidding? Who would of thought?” she said.
The casting director also expressed satisfaction that actors on the show have finally received Emmy recognition (stars Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton were both recognized). “I am so thrilled,” she said. “Honestly, each year I was so bummed for them, because I just think they’re so amazing. They’re such skilled actors and the chemistry between the two of them is so fantastic. They’re such great, nice people and they’ve really embraced our town.”
Sepko asked area resident Chandler during a casting session a week ago (the actor is directing the episode that’s currently filming) if he was really, truly going to stick around after the show finishes production this summer. “He said, ‘Oh yeah, I want to bring more projects here’,” Sepko said.
That’s more good news for Sepko on a very good news-filled day.
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Double Emmy nominee Beth Sepko
Austin casting director Beth Sepko got a double dose of good news on Thursday morning: She’s a double Emmy nominee. Sepko was recognized for her work on “Friday Night Lights” and the HBO movie “Temple Grandin.”
“That’s just my job,” she said in a 2009 American-Statesman interview, “to know the talent in the area and also know what they are capable of.”
Beth Sepko waits for me on the patio at Jo’s Hot Coffee on South Congress Avenue. The first thing I notice is the dog: a Chihuahua, cradled in her mistress’ arms and wearing a string of pearls.
Uh-oh. Paris Hilton accessorizes with a Chihuahua.
Was the Austin casting director a diva? After all, she does hobnob with celebrities and famous directors. She is a star-maker, plucking actors out of relative obscurity and thrusting them into the national spotlight. Perhaps she’d become drunk with power. Or maybe she would be bitter and jaded by all the glitz and glamour - the constant ego stroking and placating a career in show biz must demand.
But, no ” it turns out that Sepko is nothing so much as a self-described “little Texas girl” whose keen insight, commitment to and love of her career has led to three Emmy nominations (and one win) for her work on NBC’s “Friday Night Lights.”
Behind Roxanne (the Chihuahua), Sepko sports her power-broker office attire: a Clash T-shirt. Perhaps, after years of a job that requires her to quickly categorize and file away performers for future use, she’s afraid of being summed up herself. That might be why she’s quick to reveal that she actually saw the band, years ago at the Majestic in San Antonio (Sepko was born in Austin, but raised farther down Interstate 35). “It’s not like it was the ‘London Calling’ tour or anything, but I saw the Clash, dammit!” she tells me. The shirt’s sleeves are torn off - victims of the ’80s, though no leg warmers are in sight - and at some point she “bedazzled it,” she says, with sequins and shiny things. But one gets the feeling that this is about as glitzy as Sepko gets.
The energetic Sepko (one immediately gets the impression that the last thing she needs is anything caffeinated, but when on SoCo “) is too busy to craft an image anyhow. She still has three or four speaking roles to cast for Robert Rodriguez’s “Machete,” already in its third week of shooting, and she’s in the midst of casting new roles on “Friday Night Lights,” which is experiencing a large cast turnover this season. She’s already thinking about her next gig, an independent film called “The Legend of Hell’s Gate: An American Conspiracy.”
“So, yeah,” she smiles, “I’m juggling a couple of different things.”
Sepko’s trips to the Emmys might have taken a different path.
“I think when I was really little I had delusions of being an actress,” she says. She recalls going to the movies and being especially interested in the credits, even though she didn’t recognize those people’s names or what their occupations meant. She always thought that one day her name would be up there on the screen. Early on, she realized she’d rather be on the other side of the camera. After she graduated from high school, her second cousin, a screenwriter, offered her shelter on the West Coast, but was equally as generous with his frank assessment of the industry.
“I don’t know if my mother paid him to scare me, but he did and so I decided not to go,” Sepko says.
Instead, she wound up working as a talent agent in San Antonio. Fade and flash forward six years to 1993, when Sepko became an assistant to a casting director doing mostly commercials. Her work casting extras for television led to feature films such as “The Big Green,” and that, in turn, led to the largely improvised Christopher Guest comedy, “Waiting for Guffman.”
“(That) was really sort of the first one where I was really on my own,” she remembers. “I was flying by the seat of my pants and didn’t want anyone to know. I mean we had no script! So it was a crazy place to start. So then I was hooked, you know? That’s what I was going to do.”
Sepko collaborates with casting directors in Los Angeles or New York whose productions are filming here. As a location casting director, Sepko’s greatest asset is her encyclopedic knowledge about the talent available in Central Texas. “That’s just my job,” she says, “to know the talent in the area and also know what they are capable of.”
Because she feels the local talent pool is “very strong, but shallow,” another part of her job is to seek out and cultivate new talent.
“Sometimes we get a really great actor and then they leave,” she explains. “And so I’m having to look for someone to replace that go-to guy that I would always cast in a particular role, you know. If he’s gone I have to be ready. So, I am constantly reading new people and making sure that I know who’s out there.”
Sepko sees a lot of local theater productions and seeks out student showcases. She goes to concerts (post-interview she was headed out to see Pat Benatar and Blondie) and judges the Funniest Person in Austin contest. “I’m always trying to turn comedians into actors or musicians into actors,” she laughs, recounting the time she cast Dale Watson in an independent film.
I’m beginning to feel as if Sepko’s always on the prowl - that it’s difficult for her to power down and flip off the casting switch.
“Yesterday, I was driving to the Reel Women meeting over on the East Side,” recounts Sepko, who sits on the organization’s board. “And I’m driving down Seventh Street and there’s this little, old Hispanic woman with white, white hair and dark brown skin and she must be 90, watering her lawn. And I just found myself, out loud, I was like, ‘Oh, that’s beautiful!’ “
Sepko realized the woman probably wasn’t an actress, but she couldn’t help picturing her in “Machete.”
“Robert needs to have her watering the lawn in the background of a scene in the neighborhood,” she thought. “She was awesome! So I do that all the time.” She’s also accosted by just about anyone who’s aware of her occupation. She talks about a trainer at the gym who volunteered for a coach’s role on “Friday Night Lights.” And although she hasn’t used that person, Sepko’s not averse to the idea.
“If we’re looking for a reporter for the show, there is a certain cadence in the way a reporter speaks that I assume they learned in broadcast journalism school, and it’s hard for some actors to copy,” she explains. “And I end up calling local reporters to play reporters.” And cops to play cops, and so on. It’s all part of expanding the talent pool. Sepko says she’s happy in Austin and, in spite of her success, has no desire to go to L.A. Except for the Emmys. Again. After winning two years ago and then losing last year to “Damages” (“We really thought we were going to be beat by ‘Mad Men,’ so we were surprised”) she’s hoping for another victory. “I have the purdy statue from the first season, and she wants a partner on the shelf,” she wrote in our initial e-mail exchange. Even if her statue gets that mate, it would be hard to match the surreal thrill of her first Emmy experience. Sepko arrived in Los Angeles and met that city’s “Friday Night Lights” casting directors - including John Brace - with whom she had worked over the wires for so long. They told Sepko she would meet their significant others, both of them actors, at the ceremony.
“So, I’m sitting there the next night,” she recalls, “and John Brace’s significant other is Gedde Watanabe. I’m sitting there and we’re like, ‘We’re with Long Duk Dong!’ (Watanabe’s iconic “Sixteen Candles” character). At the Emmys! How did this happen? I mean, that was the best part!”
Nope. This little Texas girl’s not jaded at all.
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Reaction to Emmy nominations for Chandler, Britton
— Chicago Now: “Best news: Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton were both nominated—finally—for their incredible work in ‘Friday Night Lights.’” — Boston.com: Some of the best Emmy news has to do with the extremely overdue recognition for the two ‘Friday Night Lights’ leads, Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton. The show, now in its fifth season, finally got some acknowledgement, although it failed to make the best drama category, which is crowded with quality. Working together with utterly believable chemistry, Britton and Chandler have brought an extraordinarily realistic portrait of marriage to network TV. — Orlando Sentinel: “The most pleasant surprises? Nominators saluted Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton, the superb stars of the low-rated ‘Friday Night Lights.’”
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List of 2010 Primetime Emmy nominations
Academy of Television Arts & Sciences 62nd Primetime Emmy Award Nominations — major categories
Outstanding Comedy Series
Curb Your Enthusiasm - HBO - HBO Entertainment
Glee - FOX - A Ryan Murphy TV Production in association with 20th Century Fox TV
Modern Family - ABC - Twentieth Century Fox Television
Nurse Jackie - Showtime - Showtime Presents, Lionsgate Television, Jackson Group Entertainment, Madison Grain Elevator, Inc. & Delong Lumber; A Caryn Mandabach Production
The Office - NBC - Deedle-Dee Productions and Reveille LLC in association with Universal Media Studios
30 Rock - NBC - Broadway Video, Little Stranger, Inc. in association with Universal Media Studio
Outstanding Drama Series
Breaking Bad - AMC - Sony Pictures Television
Dexter - Showtime - Showtime Presents, John Goldwyn Productions, The Colleton Company, Clyde Phillips Productions
The Good Wife - CBS - CBS Productions
Lost - ABC - Grass Skirts Productions, LLC in association with ABC Network and Studios
Mad Men - AMC - Lionsgate Television
True Blood - HBO - Your Face Goes Here Entertainment in association with HBO Entertainment
Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series
The Big Bang Theory - CBS - Chuck Lorre Productions, Inc. in association with Warner Bros. Television Jim Parsons as Sheldon Cooper
Curb Your Enthusiasm - HBO - HBO Entertainment Larry David as Himself
Glee - FOX - A Ryan Murphy TV Production in association with 20th Century Fox TV Matthew Morrison as Will Schuester
Monk - USA - Universal Cable Productions in association with Mandeville Films and ABC Studios Tony Shalhoub as Adrian Monk
The Office - NBC - Deedle-Dee Productions and Reveille LLC in association with Universal Media Studios Steve Carell as Michael Scott
30 Rock - NBC - Broadway Video, Little Stranger, Inc. in association with Universal Media Studio Alec Baldwin as Jack Donaghy
Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series
Breaking Bad - AMC - Sony Pictures Television Bryan Cranston as Walter White
Dexter - Showtime - Showtime Presents, John Goldwyn Productions, The Colleton Company, Clyde Phillips Productions Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan
Friday Night Lights - DirecTV - Imagine Entertainment in association with Universal Media Studios and Film 44 Kyle Chandler as Eric Taylor
House - FOX - Universal Media Studios in association with Heel and Toe Films, Shore Z Productions and Bad Hat Harry Productions Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House
Lost - ABC - Grass Skirts Productions, LLC in association with ABC Network and Studios Matthew Fox as Jack Shephard
Mad Men - AMC - Lionsgate Television Jon Hamm as Don Draper
Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series
Glee - FOX - A Ryan Murphy TV Production in association with 20th Century Fox TV Lea Michele as Rachel Berry
The New Adventures Of Old Christine - CBS - Kari’s Logo Here in association with Warner Bros. Television Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Christine Campbell
Nurse Jackie - Showtime - Showtime Presents, Lionsgate Television, Jackson Group Entertainment, Madison Grain Elevator, Inc. & Delong Lumber; A Caryn Mandabach Production Edie Falco as Jackie Peyton
Parks And Recreation - NBC - Produced by Deedle-Dee Productions and Universal Media Studios Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope
30 Rock - NBC - Broadway Video, Little Stranger, Inc. in association with Universal Media Studio Tina Fey as Liz Lemon
United States Of Tara - Showtime - Showtime Presents, Dreamworks Television Toni Collette as Tara Gregson
Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series
The Closer - TNT - The Shephard/Robin Company, in association with Warner Bros. Television Kyra Sedgwick as Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson
Damages - FX Networks - Sony Pictures Television, FX Productions and KZK Productions Glenn Close as Patty Hewes
Friday Night Lights - DirecTV - Imagine Entertainment in association with Universal Media Studios and Film 44 Connie Britton as Tami Taylor
The Good Wife - CBS - CBS Productions Julianna Margulies as Alicia Florrick
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit - NBC - Wolf Films in association with Universal Media Studios Mariska Hargitay as Det. Olivia Benson
Mad Men - AMC - Lionsgate Television January Jones as Betty Draper
Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series
Glee - FOX - A Ryan Murphy TV Production in association with 20th Century Fox TV Chris Colfer as Kurt Hummel
How I Met Your Mother - CBS - Twentieth Century Fox Television Neil Patrick Harris as Barney Stinson
Modern Family - ABC - Twentieth Century Fox Television Jesse Tyler Ferguson as Mitchell
Modern Family - ABC - Twentieth Century Fox Television Eric Stonestreet as Cameron Tucker
Modern Family - ABC - Twentieth Century Fox Television Ty Burrell as Phil Dunphy
Two And A Half Men - CBS - Chuck Lorre Productions, Inc., The Tannenbaum Company in association with Warner Bros. Television Jon Cryer as Alan Harper
Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama Series
Breaking Bad - AMC - Sony Pictures Television
Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman
Damages - FX Networks - Sony Pictures Television, FX Productions and KZK Productions Martin Short as Leonard Winstone
Lost - ABC - Grass Skirts Productions, LLC in association with ABC Network and Studios Terry O’Quinn as John Locke
Lost - ABC - Grass Skirts Productions, LLC in association with ABC Network and Studios Michael Emerson as Ben Linus
Mad Men - AMC - Lionsgate Television John Slattery as Roger Sterling
Men Of A Certain Age - TNT - TNT Original Productions Andre Braugher as Owen
Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Miniseries Or A Movie
Emma (Masterpiece) - PBS - A co-production of BBC Productions and WGBH Boston Michael Gambon as Mr. Woodhouse
Hamlet (Great Performances) - PBS - production of Illuminations and Royal Shakespeare Company for BBC in association with Thirteen for WNET.org and NHK Patrick Stewart as Ghost / Claudius
Return To Cranford (Masterpiece) - PBS - BBC/WGBH in association with Chestermead Jonathan Pryce as Mr. Buxton
Temple Grandin - HBO - A Ruby Films, Gerson Saines Production in association with HBO Films David Strathairn as Dr. Carlock
You Don’t Know Jack - HBO - Bee Holder, Cine Mosaic and Levinson/Fontana Productions in association with HBO Films John Goodman as Neal Nicol
Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series
Glee - FOX - A Ryan Murphy TV Production in association with 20th Century Fox TV Jane Lynch as Sue Sylvester
Modern Family - ABC - Twentieth Century Fox Television Julie Bowen as Claire Dunphy
Modern Family - ABC - Twentieth Century Fox Television Sofia Vergara as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett
Saturday Night Live - NBC - SNL Studios in association with NBC Studios and Broadway Video Kristen Wiig as Various Characters
30 Rock - NBC - Broadway Video, Little Stranger, Inc. in association with Universal Media Studio Jane Krakowski as Jenna Maroney
Two And A Half Men - CBS - Chuck Lorre Productions, Inc., The Tannenbaum Company in association with Warner Bros. Television Holland Taylor as Evelyn Harper
Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series
Burn Notice - USA - FOX Television Studios in association with Fuse Entertainment Sharon Gless as Madeline Westen
Damages - FX Networks - Sony Pictures Television, FX Productions and KZK Productions Rose Byrne as Ellen Parsons
The Good Wife - CBS - CBS Productions Archie Panjabi as Kalinda Sharma
The Good Wife - CBS - CBS Productions Christine Baranski as Diane Lockhart
Mad Men - AMC - Lionsgate Television Christina Hendricks as Joan Harris
Mad Men - AMC - Lionsgate Television Elisabeth Moss as Peggy Olson
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
Alice - Syfy - A Reunion Pictures and Studio Eight Production in association with RHI Entertainment Kathy Bates as Queen of Hearts
Temple Grandin - HBO - A Ruby Films, Gerson Saines Production in association with HBO Films Julia Ormond as Eustacia (Temple’s Mom)
Temple Grandin - HBO - A Ruby Films, Gerson Saines Production in association with HBO Films Catherine O’Hara as Aunt Ann
You Don’t Know Jack - HBO - Bee Holder, Cine Mosaic and Levinson/Fontana Productions in association with HBO Films Brenda Vaccaro as Margo Janus
You Don’t Know Jack - HBO - Bee Holder, Cine Mosaic and Levinson/Fontana Productions in association with HBO Films Susan Sarandon as Janet Good
Outstanding Lead Actor In A Miniseries Or A Movie
A Dog Year - HBO - Duopoly in association with HBO Films Jeff Bridges as Jon Katz
The Prisoner - AMC - AMC, ITV Productions and Granada Ian McKellen as Two
The Special Relationship - HBO - A Rainmark and Kennedy/Marshall Production in association with HBO Films Michael Sheen as Tony Blair
The Special Relationship - HBO - A Rainmark and Kennedy/Marshall Production in association with HBO Films Dennis Quaid as Bill Clinton
You Don’t Know Jack - HBO - Bee Holder, Cine Mosaic and Levinson/Fontana Productions in association with HBO Films Al Pacino as Dr. Jack Kevorkian
Outstanding Lead Actress In A Miniseries Or A Movie
Capturing Mary - HBO - A talkbackTHAMES Production in association with the BBC and HBO Films Maggie Smith as Mary Gilbert
Georgia O’Keeffe - Lifetime - Sony Pictures Television for Lifetime Television Joan Allen as Georgia O’Keeffe
Return To Cranford (Masterpiece) - PBS - BBC/WGBH in association with Chestermead Dame Judi Dench as Miss Matty
The Special Relationship - HBO - A Rainmark and Kennedy/Marshall Production in association with HBO Films Hope Davis as Hillary Clinton
Temple Grandin - HBO - A Ruby Films, Gerson Saines Production in association with HBO Films Claire Danes as Temple Grandin
Read the complete list at the Academy’s website.
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‘Friday Night Lights’ stars get Emmy nominations
“Friday Night Lights” stars Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton picked up Emmy nominations Thursday morning for their roles in the Austin-filmed series.
While the NBC/DirecTV series has been nominated for Emmys before, these nominations are its first in major categories. “FNL” missed picking up a nomination for best drama series, though.
Also nominated for Emmys are the HBO movie “Temple Grandin,” filmed in Central Texas, and its star, Claire Danes.
Look for Emmys reports here throughout the day.
UPDATED: “FNL” has also received nominations for casting and writing.
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Follow me Emmy nomination tweets
I’ll be live tweeting the Emmy nominations at 7:30 a.m. CT this morning. You can follow me live on Twitter by clicking here. Then check back later for my reaction to the nominations.
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More trouble in ‘Idol’-ville
First the ratings dropped. Then Fox’s “American Idol” actually failed to win its time slot a couple of times this season. Now comes word that the “American Idol” Live! Tour 2010 has been cut short.
The New York Post reports that eight dates have been shaved off of the tour due to poor ticket sales. With Omaha, Kansas City, Toronto, Buffalo, Cleveland, Winnipeg, Portland, Ore. and Portland, Maine off the list, the tour will now end Aug. 31, instead of Sept. 16.
I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that while this may be partially based on a weak economy, it’s probably more likely more fallout from a particularly weak season. What do you think?
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‘Community’ marathon to air on NBC Thursday
If you haven’t yet enrolled in the “Community” community, NBC is offering remedial classes Thursday night. Half a dozen episodes of the freshman comedy centered around a diverse study group attending a community college are being shown back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back beginning at 7 p.m.
Zap2it.com has a fun wrap-up in which star Joel McHale (“The Soup”) comments on almost all of the episodes. If you’re a fan, it’s definitely worth reading.
If you’re just joining the class, don’t miss “Goodfellas”-inspired “Contemporary American Poultry” at 7 p.m. and “Modern Warfare” at 8 p.m. The latter, also known as “The Paintball Episode,” is one of the smartest, funniest and all-around well-done half hours of television I’ve watched in years. “Physical Education” at 8:30 p.m. is also outstanding.
See you in the lunch line!
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Austin’s Zach Anner unofficial top vote-getter in Oprah contest
With 9,161,042 votes, Austinite Zach Anner is the top vote-getter in Oprah Winfrey’s online contest to find a new show and host on OWN (the Oprah Winfrey Network). The tally is subject to official verification, but Anner is nearly a million votes ahead of his nearest competitor, Dr. Phyllis, a teacher from Tampa, Florida.
The win, if confirmed, does not guarantee Anner a show, but any placement in the top five sends him to Los Angeles for the next round of auditions, in which he will compete for one of ten slots in a reality competition that will decide the winner.
Here’s Anner’s winning submission:
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‘Bachelor’ split: Jake and Vienna go public
Is anybody surprised that a superficial relationship that began on television continues to crumble … on television?
Jake Pavelka and Vienna Girardi battled and bickered, weeped and stomped off Monday night in a reunion at the end of “The Bachelorette” that stands second only to my high school class’ 25th as far as disasters go.
Clearly the animosity is real, but some relationship experts suggest that the public drama is a calculated ploy to keep the reality stars’ names in the public eye and extend their 15 minutes of fame.
”When you find people putting behavior like that out there, they are people who are more concerned about the integrity of their brand rather than the content of their character,” D. Ivan Young, author of relationship guide “Break Up, Don’t Break Down,” told the Associated Press. “Those relationships are superficial at best.”
So, never mind Team Edward and Team Jacob — are you Team Jake or Team Vienna? Sound off in the comments below.
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This week’s TV picks
Monday: ‘Secret Life of the American Teenager’ 7 p.m., ABC Family: Bristol Palin turns up in Amy’s dorm room. Well, I guess it beats turning up in ‘The Bachelor’s’ hot tub. ‘Persons Unknown’ 7 p.m., NBC: A new, tattooed playmate gets tossed into the creepy conspiracy sandbox. ‘Unwrapped’ 7:30 p.m., Food: Disneyland and Disneyworld get unwrapped in tonight’s episode. I’ll bet it’s all goofy inside. ‘Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations’ 9 p.m., Travel: Season 7 kicks off with a trip to the Grenadine Islands.
Tuesday: ‘Afraid of the Dark’ 7 p.m., History: I’ll be watching this examination of humans’ fear of darkness with every light in my house turned on. ‘America’s Got Talent’ 8 p.m., NBC: Acts compete in Vegas tonight and tomorrow for a slot in the top 48. Look for Austin’s musical lightning makers, ‘Arc Attack,’ to be among them. ‘Warehouse 13’ 8 p.m., Syfy: A theft, a car crash and a trip to London mark this show’s second season premiere. ‘P.O.V.’ 9 p.m., PBS: The viewpoints of black claimants and white landowners in South Africa are presented in this examination of land reform in South Africa, promised by Nelson Mandela in 1994. ‘Table for 12’ 9 p.m., TLC: Who has the worst idea ever for a family of twelve? Raise your hands. A puppy? You win, ma’am.
Wednesday: ‘Top Chef: Washington, D.C.’ 8 p.m., Bravo: The competitors have to make baby food for the host’s infant. Brilliant. If I hosted a show, it would be a be one of those renovation shows and I’d make the contestants fix up my own house. ‘Fabulous Beekman Boys’ 8 p.m., Green: Martha Stewart on the farm? It sounds like a remake of ‘Green Acres’ to me. ‘Justin Bieber: My World’ 9 p.m., E!: You know, it just occurred to me that if the satellites of superstardom that are Justin Bieber and Betty White ever collided, it would be a dark, dark day for the universe.
Thursday: ‘Community’ 8 p.m., NBC: This repeat episode is the single most hilarious and well-done half-hour of television I’ve seen in recent memory. If you missed it the first time around, don’t make that mistake again. ‘Boston Med’ 9 p.m., ABC: This great, summer documentary series rolls on with an appendectomy. ‘Futurama’ 9 p.m., Comedy Central: Bender gets involved in an initiative to legalize marriage between humans and robots.
Friday: ‘Eureka’ 8 p.m., Syfy: The Season 4 premiere finds the quirky town celebrating its 60th anniversary. ‘Haven’ 9 p.m., Syfy: The supernatural drama series based on Stephen Kings ‘The Colorado Kid’ debuts.
Saturday: ‘Eastwick’ 8 p.m., ABC: The summer burn-off of cancelled series continues with back-to-back episodes. ‘The Bridge’ 8 p.m., CBS: Aaron Douglas stars as a disgruntled beat cop in the premiere of this crime series.
Sunday: ‘Ochocinco: The Ultimate Catch’ 7 p.m., VH1: The NFL’s Chad Ochocinco invites 85 women to a dating training camp. No information on whether or not anybody scores. ‘Masterpiece Mystery’ 8 p.m., PBS: David Suchet portrays Christie detective Hercule Poirot in this Orient Express tale.
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‘Freaks And Geeks’ premieres on IFC Friday
“Freaks and Geeks,” the short-lived but influential NBC comedy, returns to television at 10 p.m. tonight on IFC. Only a dozen of its 18 episodes aired during its initial season ten years ago, but the show advanced the careers of Seth Rogen, James Franco, Jason Segel, Linda Cardellini and Busy Philipps, among others.
It was also the incubator for the comic sensibility of co-creator Judd Apatow (with Paul Feig) whose comedies — including “Knocked Up” and “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” — have ruled at the box office and influenced a generation of filmmakers. Linda Holmes over at NPR has a good piece about the show’s enduring influence.
There are a good number of people who are passionate about this show. Tune in and you might count yourself among them.
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Nick at Nite’s ‘Glenn Martin’ heads to Texas
Animated, traveling dentist Glenn Martin heads to Texas tonight for a “Friday Night Lights”-inspired episode entitled “Footlooseball.” In the episode, Glenn’s assistant, Wendy, becomes a high school football team kicker.
Check out this clip, which finds John Madden announcing the game because “Texas high school football is bigger” than the NFL (I don’t understand why that’s supposed to be funny).
“Glenn Martin, DDS” airs at 9:30 central tonight on Nickelodeon.
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‘America’s Next Top Model’ casting in Austin
Are you “fierce?”
If so (and if you meet the other qualifications — ferocity alone does not cut it, I guess) “America’s Next Top Model” is looking for you.
The show is holding an open casting call in Austin in conjunction with the local affiliate of The CW. Applicants will be evaluated on Thursday, July 8 at The Driskill, 604 Brazos Street, from 2-7 p.m.
One hopeful selected by a panel of judges will move onto the next round in California.
The CW is seeking females ages 18 to 27 of diverse backgrounds, shapes, sizes. One caveat: you’ve got to be at least 5’7” tall. If you want to participate, log on to thecwaustin.com to download an application (you’ll need to have one completed, along with a waiver, when you arrive at the audition) and review the eligibility requirements.
Other requirements:
All contestants must bring legible COPIES of either:
1. United States passport and driver’s license
2. Social Security card and birth certificate
All contestants will need to bring three photographs of themselves with their first and last name written on the back (no pictures will be taken by The CW.)
At the casting call, applicants will record a three-minute video of them modeling and answering questions about why they want to be America’s next top model to accompany their application and photographs.
You’ll want to arrive early: Producers will begin handing out numbers to those waiting in line at 1:45 p.m. on Thursday, July 8th. The number of people who want to audition may exceed the allotted time, and once the numbers in line for the estimated number of contestants who can be accommodated in five hours of taping has been given out, The CW will not be taking/taping any other applicants.
For complete rules and audition documents, click here.
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