Inside the Actors Studio (Monday, 7/6c, Bravo)
Even in those moments when it succumbs to fawning self-parody, there's something about James Lipton's craft/career-focused Q&A's that I find irresistibly endearing. (May have something to do with my nostalgia for what Bravo was like before all of those heinous Real Housewives took over the network.) This week, this marginalized show — notice how it airs outside prime-time parameters — welcomes its first-ever graduate from the Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University. Said successful alum being Bradley Cooper, beloved by TV fans for his work on Alias but now busy with a film career including The Hangover, Wedding Crashers and the new Limitless opposite Robert De Niro.
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James Lipton is a man of many talents — not to mention many words. Over the past five decades, the octogenarian intellectual has worked as an actor (he appeared on Guiding Light for a decade), an author (in addition to writing for numerous soaps, he also penned two musicals and a number of books) and an instructor (as dean of the Actors Studio Drama School). Yet despite his diverse accomplishments, he didn't become a household name until he began hosting Bravo's Inside the Actors Studio 13 years ago. Not only has Lipton managed to attract showbiz's biggest and brightest names to his stage (everyone from Sondheim to
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Arrested DevelopmentPoor Michael. What keeps him going in this futile mission to keep his family together? And what makes him think they need his help? Without his meddling, they always seem to come together while following their selfish pursuits. Lindsey and Tobias are reunited as his vanity-pleasing, deadly hair plugs have given her a new cause célèb, graft versus host, for which to hold benefits and attract sympathy — and even Gob got to show off the magic of home-video editing at the gala. (Gob: "It sounds like a tennis match between Stephi Graff and Happy Days star Donnie Host." Narrator Ron Howard: "It's Most.") Though he meant for his pet turtle to make Lucille jealous, Buster reconnected with his "uncle-father" Oscar instead — thanks to the turtle'
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