Lili Taylor, State of Mind
Dr. Ann Bellowes is thrown for a major loop — yep, another one — when State of Mind (Sunday, 10 pm/ET, Lifetime), the quirky drama starring perennial scene-stealer Lili Taylor as a therapist with personal problems that rival those of her patients, closes out its first season tonight. Taylor opened up to us about the character and her own life.
TV Guide: Have you ever been in therapy? Lili Taylor: Oh, yeah! I've been doing it so many years. You can look at it as an expensive conversation, but if it makes you feel better, it's worth it.
TV Guide: Did playing a therapist give you a better understanding of your own relationship with author Nick Flynn?Taylor: It made me have a healthy respect for relationships and to not take them for granted. It made me ask, "Do I have
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Question: OK, I know it's not your channel or your kind of show (it is a chick thing!), but I was wondering: Have you previewed any episodes of Lifetime's Side Order of Life? Though it's a little cheesy, with its Ally McBeal-esque antics (not done half as well...), the heart of this show is very sweet and genuine. Diana-Maria Riva is absolutely amazing as Vivy. The way she makes me laugh and cry, portraying a woman striving to live a normal life despite having cancer, is a prime example of why I love TV and come back for more each week!
Answer: Message received. My initial reaction to reviewing this pilot was to cut it some slack. I agree with the remark about it being cheesy, but I also found it harmless and likable and, most important, very much in keeping with the Lifetime brand (and I don't mean to be patronizing here). By comparison, despite a strong performance by Lili Taylor, I thought its companion show, State of Mind, was an annoyingly over-the-top attempt to bring an FX-like
...
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Josh Flitter in Nancy Drew courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures
Per Variety, Nancy Drew's Josh Flitter has been tapped to star in Ace Ventura 3, playing (an assuredly off-camera) Jim Carrey's son, who fancies himself a pet detective for the 7th-grade set.... Brittany Murphy, Jason Lee, Giovanni Ribisi, Jim Broadbent — pausing for a breather amidst indie overload... OK — Tim Roth, and Lili Taylor are signed on for The Other Side, a comedy in which a grad student toiling for a scientific institute on a remote island discovers a community of people who are hiding a secret about a tragedy that took place years before. Sure the title isn't "The Others Side"?.... All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, which was set to spook moviegoers this Friday, has had its release pushed to early 2008 — ostensibly to get a wider run.
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Devon Gummersall, State of Mind
Most people remember Devon Gummersall from his days as Angela Chase's geeky but sweet neighbor on the cult series My So-called Life, but now the actor has grown up and is portraying a lawyer on the new Lifetime drama State of Mind (premiering Sunday at 9 pm/ET). He's still the young, fresh face on the show, and he's surrounded by another great cast, including indie queen Lili Taylor. Could his humorously named lawyer Barry White have some feelings for the lovely Lili? TVGuide.com couldn't wait to find out.
TVGuide.com: I just watched your show, and it’s so cute!Devon Gummersall:
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Not so many summers ago, you'd have been lucky to find five new series to watch during the entire off-season. This summer, you can find at least that many premiering nearly every week. (Shameless plug alert: As part of next week's new wave of shows, I make my debut as a reality-TV judge Wednesday, July 18, on TV Guide Network's America's Next Producer.) For cable networks, it's all about finding new signature shows to redefine the brand. (Think Lifetime's Army Wives.) Here are some first impressions of five new scripted contenders.
Mad MenThursdays, 10 pm/ET, AMCThe pitch: Ad men in 1960, oozing ego and raw sexism.First impression: Wow. The period look is dazzling: the women's tight skirts, the men's slicked hair. If iconic director Douglas Sirk (Writt
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Question: I'm a 30-year-old woman who is beyond delighted to see representations of real women on TV this season. It's nice to look at Sally Field, both as an actress and her character on Brothers & Sisters, and not get the sense that life ends for women with marriage and kids. Mrs. Walker is a complex, intelligent character, as are the other women represented in the show. I recently discovered Alias on DVD and cannot say enough about Lena Olin, either. She's gorgeous and fierce, while not trying to be 25. I also love that these women don't look like they've been Botoxed within an inch of their life. I remember growing up watching Golden Girls and Designing Women with my mom. I know lots of young women who still find these reruns delightfully funny. It seems like that genre has been missing from TV in the last few years. What do you think the odds are that we'll see more of these characters or women-focused shows in the future? Do you think TV execs will ever get comfortable with women ...
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Jason Priestley and Marisa Coughlan courtesy Lifetime
Today the veteran cabler gave advertisers a sneak peek at a slew of upcoming programming, including scripted series, reality shows and, of course, its legendary TV-movies. Future offerings include the one-hour dramas Chambermaid about an attorney fresh out of law school clerking for a powerful judge; Bailey Weggins, the adventures of a divorcee-cum-investigative reporter; Burnt Toast, based on the memoir by Desperate Housewives' star Teri Hatcher; an American incarnation of the Brit airline series Mile High; and Lovely and Talented about an all-female acting class. Original movies include a look at the House of Hilton and the presidential candidate Victoria Woodhull, who ran for office decades before women were granted suffrage. Well-titled reality offerings include How to Look Good Naked hosted by Queer Eye guy Carson Kressley; Judgment Day, America's Psychic Challenge and Going for Broke. Premiere dates for a trio of previously announced series were also revealed: Kim Delaney and ...
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Inching their way to your television screen:• ABC has granted pilot orders to Marlowe, a contemporary take on Raymond Chandler's hard-boiled private eye, and Pushing Daisies, a romantic drama about a man who can bring dead people back to life, just by touching them.• NBC has ordered a pilot for Zip, a comedy about a grifter who angles to live the good life with his kids in Beverly Hills.• Sci Fi has teamed with Sex and the City creator Darren Star and scribe Mike Werb (Face/Off) on a crime series about four convicts outfitted with technologically enhanced bodies (Pam Anderson is already in the casting office) and sent to work for a covert wing of the government, says Reuters.• Lifetime has given a series pickup and set a summer debut for State of Mind, starring Lili Taylor as a therapist.
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Clueless' Alicia Silverstone has been tapped to replace Pascale Hutton in the role of Georgia, a successful doctor, in The Singles Table, NBC's mid-season comedy about strangers who bond after sharing a table (and, I presume, undercooked beef) at a mutual pal's wedding.... Lolita Davidovich (no relation to moi), whose recent TV credits include The L Word and Monk, but not Miss Match, has been cast opposite Lili Taylor in the Lifetime drama pilot State of Mind, a look at the professional and personal lives of therapists.
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