Geena Davis, who on TV last occupied no less than the White House, is eyeing a return to the tube, as the star of Exit 19, a pilot presentation for CBS. In the drama, Davis will play "a quirky murder detective balancing her job... with her role as a single suburban mom raising two kids on Long Island."CBS entertainment boss Nina Tassler, says Variety, has long been trying to lock down Davis for a series, since both women graduated from Boston University. It's a good thing Tassler didn't go to Syracuse; Exit 19 might have ended up starring that crazy chick who used to drive me home at winter recess.
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Harvey, we hardly knew ya. Just hours after word broke that Harvey Keitel was thisclose to signing a contract with Criminal Minds for the spot left vacant by the disappearing Mandy Patinkin, sources say the deal is no longer on the table. This makes Keitel the latest big name to be stricken from the show’s most-wanted list. Others include Geena Davis, Michael Keaton and Bob Hoskins. Despite the suspense surrounding the search, we hear the show is still chugging along fine without the replacement. The first three episodes are already in the can (with Patinkin’s absence being dealt with in the season-opener). This means that whoever the new character is, he/she (and we suspect it’s a he) won’t be appearing until later in the season. — Reporting by Jonathan SmallRelated: Harvey Keitel Emerges as Front-runner for Criminal Minds Top Spot
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It's official. Doris Roberts and I are the only two remaining showbiz "names" that haven't been approached about replacing Mandy Patinkin on Criminal Minds.Early on, you'll recall, Oscar winner Geena Davis was considered to be the front-runner to get the job. But she took a pass, according to my spy, because she wasn't keen on "the nature of the show." (Funny — she didn't seem to have a problem with "the nature" of the Geena Davis Show, and that was god-awful.) Michael Keaton nixed the gig, too, presumably because he wasn't ready to do TV full-time.And they're just the tip of the iceberg. To give you some idea of just how wide a net the show's producers are casting, I've listed some celebs that are under consideration below, with a few key letters asterisked out to protect their anonymity. Of course, if Shemar Moore wants to blab their identities, too, who am I to shush him?Among the stars who've been approached and took a pass:**b ***k*n*J*** **t**owSi****ne* **av*r Among the ...
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The search for Mandy Patinkin's replacement on Criminal Minds may be over.At CBS' press-tour soiree this evening, Minds man Shemar Moore essentially confirmed what I've been hearing all day: Geena Davis has emerged as the front-runner to succeed Patinkin. Moore, who was in a very chatty mood, also name-dropped Michael Keaton as a possible successor, but sources tell me that Keaton has officially passed. What else did Moore have to say? Loads. • On Patinkin's abrupt exit: "I don't like that he did this the way he did this. I don't. I don't think it's right. He left us hanging a little bit... no warning, no nothing. We all showed up to work on Day 1, and he didn't. And we've been scrambling. But we're going to be all right without him. I just feel like he needs to take responsibility for his actions… [and] just acknowledge us, because it's an ensemble, it's a team.... We just want the courtesy and the respect that we deserve. And we felt like if he had given us that initial...
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Question: I am so disappointed that ABC canceled Commander in Chief! I know many other people are upset, too. Geena Davis received a Golden Globe, the episodes were so believable, and even though there were serious breaks in the season, it was a great show. Do you think the head honchos at ABC received pressure from certain political parties to silence the show? I know that the writers or directors were changed midstream, but I think the show was still good and could have come back given support, creative freedom and consistency in its airdates. Do you think politics were involved?
Answer: Nope. Just a bad case of network mismanagement, which ABC now admits. They should never have taken the show away from its creator, Rod Lurie. As great a producer as Steven Bochco is, this was not a good fit. The creative disarray, which I thought became quite noticeable on screen, doomed the show, along with ABC's erratic scheduling once the powers-that-be gave up on it. Had nothing to do with it ...
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