Patricia Wettig on Prison Break
Patricia Wettig now has something in common with 24 alum Dennis Haysbert (currently on CBS' The Unit) — neither of them are any longer playing the president of the United States for Fox.
While Wettig's Prison Break character, the crafty Caroline Reynolds, was set to play the leader of the free world in the show's sophomore season, the actress — who wasn't under contract to the Fox drama — opted instead to accept a role on B
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Hugh Laurie, House
Question: Six of one, half dozen of the other, huh? So much for the "improved" Emmy nomination process. It seems that just as many glaring omissions were made this time around as before, just different ones. Now, rather than the overlooked performers from small shows getting shafted, the respected stars from equally respected shows got the pie in the face. How any panel of humans viewing televised programming could find five more deserving fellow Homo sapiens than Hugh Laurie in the best-lead-actor category boggles the mind. Yes, Denis Leary, Gregory Itzin and Jean Smart got welcome nods, but the rest? Sheesh! No James Gandolfini or Edie Falco, but Martin Sheen and Geena Davis? No Jason Bateman or Lauren Graham, but Kevin James and Sto
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Kiefer Sutherland
Question: Any news on the sixth season of 24?
Answer: As a matter of fact, yes — and it's huge! The show may head to the Big Apple next season. The real Big Apple, not some lame New York-looking studio backlot in Los Angeles. "We are in converations about shooting some stuff in New York for this [coming] season," exec producer Joel Surnow tells me. If a deal can be worked out, this would be the first time in the show's five-year history that it went on location outside of California. Surnow also hints that there's a decent chance Gregory Itzin and Jean Smart will be back as the disgraced first family. "We love them," he says. "They're alive. We c
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Question: I can't even tell you how much I'm enjoying 24 this season. It's the first season I've watched completely (mostly because Fox finally switched it to a time slot that doesn't conflict with anything else I watch), and what makes it even better is that I'm guaranteed a new episode each and every week. Has this scheduling had any effect on 24's ratings? I'd also like to say how much I love Jean Smart as First Lady Martha Logan — there's a contingent out here who think the last five minutes of the season should show her running off with loyal Secret Service Agent Aaron Pierce while President Logan whines to Novick, "Mike, what should I dooooooo?"
Answer: Oh, Lisa, you have no idea what a little hornets' nest you have stirred up. Just wait until you see tonight's (March 6) two-hour episode. There's a moment between ambush survivors Martha and Aaron that will tickle you to no end. (And let me just say that no 24 fan can afford to miss these episodes. It's a real and shocking turning
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Ray Wise
Tonight's two-hour 24 "event" (beginning at 8 pm/ET on Fox) will host a parade of faces new and familiar, including Elisha Cuthbert's return as Jack's beleaguered daughter and the debut of C. Thomas Howell as Kim's (overdue, if you ask me) therapist. The evening also introduces us to Vice President Hal Gardner, who has been choicely cast with Ray Wise, a star of the Oscar-nominated Good Night, and Good Luck and who is familiar to TV fans as Twin Peaks' very bad dad, Leland Palmer. TVGuide.com welcomed the chance to ask Wise about his 24 VP, working with George Clooney
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Ray Wise
Monday's two-hour 24 "event" (beginning at 8 pm/ET on Fox) will host a parade of faces new and familiar, including Elisha Cuthbert's return as Jack's beleaguered daughter and the debut of C. Thomas Howell as Kim's (overdue, if you ask me) therapist. The evening also introduces us to Vice President Hal Gardner, who has been choicely cast with Ray Wise, a star of the Oscar-nominated Good Night, and Good Luck and who is familiar to TV fans as Twin Peaks' very bad dad, Leland Palmer. TVGuide.com welcomed the chance to ask Wise about his 24 VP, working with George Clooney
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Jean Smart, 24
Jean Smart wants to make a cheesy little movie called "All the Scenes I'd Really Like to See on 24."
"Wouldn't it be fun to find President Logan floating in the moat around the western White House?" jokes Smart, who plays Martha Logan, the show's unhinged first lady whose motto ought to be: Just Say Yes... to Prescription Medication. "Or — here's one! — we see Logan coming out of Martha's closet in a little Chanel dress with high heels!"
Smart and her presidential costar, Gregory Itzin, need to "fill in the blanks with our characters," she says, because 24's producers, eager to maintain dramatic tension, "don't want us to know a thing about where our characters came from or where the hell
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24"Relax, he's really good at this." You said it, Chloe. Jack's back, and all is wrong with the world once again — which means my prime time's finally got the jaw-dropping, plot-twisting, rock-'em-sock-'em roller-coaster ride it's been missing since May. (Sorry, Idol. I've missed you, too, but deep down you've always known you're just my midweek diversion until that next hour starts ticking away.) Let's sum up, shall we? Former president Palmer? Dead. (I know!) Michelle Dessler? Dead. Tony Almeida? Critical condition. Chloe O'Brian? Still the coolest cranky-pants techie around. Palmer's brother Wayne? Grieving, willing to help Jack, and hot-hot-hot as ever. (Helloooo, D.B. Woodside!) First Lady Martha Logan? Nuttier than a fruitcake. President Logan? Complet
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24"Relax, he's really good at this." You said it, Chloe. Jack's back, and all is wrong with the world once again — which means my prime time's finally got the jaw-dropping, plot-twisting, rock-'em-sock-'em roller-coaster ride it's been missing since May. (Sorry, Idol. I've missed you, too, but deep down you've always known you're just my midweek diversion until that next hour starts ticking away.) Let's sum up, shall we? Former president Palmer? Dead. (I know!) Michelle Dessler? Dead. Tony Almeida? Critical condition. Chloe O'Brian? Still the coolest cranky-pants techie around. Palmer's brother Wayne? Grieving, willing to help Jack, and hot-hot-hot as ever. (Helloooo, D.B. Woodside!) First Lady Martha Logan? Nuttier than a fruitcake. President Logan? Complet
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Question: Even though I was spoiled for my favorite character's demise on 24, it didn't make it any easier to watch it play out on screen. I personally would have liked it much better if Tony and Michelle would have not returned for Season 5 and had been allowed to have their happy ending, which is now cheapened along with previous seasons on DVD. My problem, mainly, is the way her character was disposed of so quickly, although most everyone will rave that the "shock value" is back. I just think that Palmer's death was shocking enough, while Michelle's was simply tacked on, making it gratuitous and excessive. Palmer's death will play out the rest of the season, and very well it should, considering he's a former president. I'm not looking forward to Michelle's death being swept under the rug, being forgotten by everyone except Tony — if and when he wakes up. The Michelle fans are a small but loyal minority, and although I personally know that Reiko Aylesworth has a wonderful career ...
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