Alan Alda

Dream Cast Tapped for Howl

• Sep 10, 2008 04:58 PM ET
• by movienews
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David Strathairn by Jason Kempin/WireImage.com and Mary Louise Parker by Ron Galella/WireImage.com

An A-List dream gaggle of actors including David Strathairn Alan Alda Jeff Daniels Mary-Louise Parker and Paul Rudd are attached to join James Franco as Allen Ginsberg in the beatnik biopic HowlThe 1950s-era tale that hopefully will feature lots of tight black clothes berets and drum-beating will focus on the obscenity trial to censor Ginsbergs progressive and controversial book-length poem The project was pitched by the Allen Ginsberg Trust as a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Howl says The Hollywood ReporterGus Van Sant Good Will Hunting will executive produce the project that will highlight real-life characters including prosecuting attorney Ralph McIntosh Strathairn Judge Clayton Horn Alda prosecution witness Professor David Kirk Daniels radio personality and prosecution witness Gail Potter Parker and literary critic and defense witness Luther Nichols Rudd Telling Pictures documentarians Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman will m read more

September 28, 2006: Survivors, Ready?

• Sep 29, 2006 04:31 AM ET
• by Rhoda Charles

Survivor aficionados know there's a certain lingo that goes along with the show. For some it's comforting, for others, mind-numbingly repetitive. Me? I like it. Jeff's catchphrases are a constant that I can rely on each week as the number of castaways dwindles. That said...First things first: We couldn't move on from last week's show without finishing up Billy's love story. Back at camp, Aitu continued to dismiss the love, and the next day, after the tribes merged, Cecilia went directly to Candice to get the scoop. Needless to say, this love was one-sided. Again, I cannot wait for the reunion show.With that cleared up, Jeff uttered those three little words that change the game every single time. Drop your buffs! That's right, segregation is over. Survivor put as much effort into contriving the makeup of these two new tribes as they did with the first four. Grab a tile from the bag, do a schoolyard pick, but only choose a person who has yet to be represented on your new team. Squeeze... read more

My Emmy Predictions!

• Aug 24, 2006 05:53 PM ET
• by Michael Ausiello

Yes, this year's Emmy nominations make about as much sense as Desperate Housewives' Betty Applegate mystery. Chris Meloni instead of Hugh Laurie? Allison Janney instead of Edie Falco? Stockard Channing instead of Lauren Graham? Alfre Woodard instead of... anyone? But a funny thing happened after I worked through my anger, frustration and general sense of hopelessness: I took another look at the list and discovered, much to my surprise, that members of the blue-ribbon panel weren't completely stoned when they made their selections. Lost amid all the head-scratchers are some truly worthy nominees. In other words, this year's race is salvageable — provided, of course, that the right people win. Who are these "right people" I speak of? They're listed below, followed by my predictions for who will take home the gold on Aug. 27. Feel free to crib the info for your office pool. Not to boast, but history has proven that I'm usually spot-on about this stuff.OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES Grey... read more

Are you at all surprised that ...

• Jul 28, 2006 04:00 AM ET
• by Matt Roush

Question: Are you at all surprised that John Spencer didn't receive a posthumous Emmy nomination for his work on The West Wing? I thought his death would earn him a nod at least in an honorary sense. But given the condition of the current system, I cannot say that I am completely surprised. Answer: It is surprising, but really, with this year's nominations, where do you start and where do you end? Truthfully, and with all sincere respect to the terrific and much-lamented John Spencer, this was not Leo's greatest season on the show, and I think the nomination in that category for Alan Alda was more appropriate. A sentimental nomination for an actor taken from us too soon is without doubt the sort of thing you'd expect from a conservative group like the Emmy voters, so it is kind of jarring. But overall, this is one of the more interesting, eclectic categories this year, and just having Gregory Itzin (24's President Logan) in the running is very satisfying. (He's my pick over Alda, read more

Lauren Graham, Scrubs Score TCA Nods!

• May 31, 2006 06:58 PM ET
• by Michael Ausiello

The Television Critics Assoc. (of which I'm a member) just came out with its 2006 TCA Award nominations and, save for the Battlestar Galactica snub, it's a pretty fraktastic lineup. I'm especially jazzed that after years of checking off Lauren Graham's name, our girl finally made the cut. Ditto Scrubs. With any luck, both will prevail on July 23 when the trophies are handed out. (FYI: If the TCA brass are reading this, I've got dibbs on presenting Lauren with her award if she wins. C'mon, it's a no-brainer.) A list of the major nominees are below. See if you can guess who I'm voting for.INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDYSteve Carell (The Office) Stephen Colbert (The Colbert Report) Lauren Graham (Gilmore Girls) Jason Lee (My Name Is Earl) Jon Stewart (The Daily Show) INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMAAlan Alda (The West Wing) James Gandolfini (The Sopranos) Hugh Laurie (House) Kiefer Sutherland (24) Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer) OUTSTANDING NEW PROGRAM OF THE YEAR Big Love (HBO) The Colbert... read more

Such a bittersweet victory for...

• Apr 10, 2006 04:00 AM ET
• by Matt Roush

Such a bittersweet victory for Jimmy Smits' Matt Santos on The West Wing Sunday night, winning a nail-biter of a presidential race (it all came down to Nevada, a state in which he couldn't even remember campaigning) in the wake of running mate Leo McGarry's tragic death. Leo's obit made headlines before polls closed in the West, making matters even more tense and emotional. (And can I just say one more time how much I'd love to live in West Wing's wish-fulfillment universe, where candidates take the high road and you can almost believe that voters went for whom they liked most instead of whom they hated least.)

This is a bittersweet moment for The West Wing itself in so many ways. In its final episodes, the show is better than it has been in some time, but relatively few are watching since NBC moved it to Sundays, where the network is pretty much an als read more

How Will The West Wing Say Goodbye?

• Feb 6, 2006 03:00 AM ET
• by Matt Webb Mitovich

Martin Sheen and John Spencer, The West Wing

During this, The West Wing's seventh season, the NBC drama's producers have had to make one difficult decision after another. When should the on-screen election air? Who should win? Could the show continue on past this season, following Bartlet's successor? In the wake of original cast member John Spencer's sudden passing, how should Leo's absence be addressed? And lastly, once it was determined that this would in fact be the final season, how should the show come to an end?

Thinking back to the fall and the issue of the show's longevity, executive producer John Wells says, "We had a decision to make: Do we try to press NBC to continue the series [with] another presidency? Or were we coming to the natural end of our storytelling? The series read more

Time to Go?
Preparing for that final curtain

• Dec 21, 2005 03:00 AM ET
• by Matt Roush

Knowing when to leave, and then executing that exit strategy with dignity and creative energy intact, is possibly the toughest task in all of TV. (Everybody Loves Raymond pulled it off better than most.) In the year ahead, quite a few longtime faves are heading toward the finish line, even if some — like the fading West Wing — have yet to make it official. Here's my take on how these swan songs are playing out. While watching them, I also started wondering which ones are most likely to live on in spin-offs and which are best suited for nostalgic reunions somewhere down the road. The West Wing Sundays, 8 pm/ET, NBCSeason: 7Showing its age? By definition, a lame duck is no spring chicken. Moving this once-majestic show to Sund read more

I'm beginning to wonder if NBC...

• Nov 7, 2005 03:00 AM ET
• by Matt Roush

I'm beginning to wonder if NBC is going to torture us all season with live episodes of shows that are pretty much on life support, creating prime-time stunts in hopes of compelling us to watch (although it rarely works out that way).

First came the underwhelming live season opener of Will & Grace, with its tittering and mugging. Now we have The West Wing showing that it can stage a fake debate that looks and sounds pretty much like the real thing, only with a bit more animation as old-school Senator Vinick (Alan Alda) demanded the "stupid rules" be dropped in favor of "a debate Lincoln would have been proud of."

(Which brought to mind, after sitting through the long and tedious hour that followed, the old joke: "Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the show?")

There was no assassination, or really even any read more

When I first heard about this...

• Nov 7, 2005 03:00 AM ET
• by TV Guide News

The West Wing

When I first heard about this debate, I was a little skeptical. Between the parade of guest stars and the announcement of a live stunt, I thought this thing had a whiff of Will & Grace desperation stink. And while it didn't reach the level of President Bartlet's debate drubbing of Rob Ritchie a few seasons back, it was still pretty darn exciting to watch Bobby Simone and Hawkeye Pierce get it on without a net. First off, did we need Ellen DeGeneres playing host? I dig Ellen as much as the next guy (or girl), but she doesn't exactly ooze executive-branch gravitas. I was also kinda surprised they started with a backstage segment. I guess director Alex Graves really wanted to try his hand at a live West Wing walk-and-talk. Wasn't Alan Alda's long opening pause great? For a minute, I thought he had lost it like Admiral James Stockdale in the 1992 VP debate. Vinick's gambit to dump the debate rules turned o read more