Go, army! This week we invaded Lawton, Oklahoma. I didn't know what to think of Lawton, but after spending a wonderful week here with the community and our troops from nearby Fort Sill, it's a place I won't soon forget. There's something very sweet about small towns, and the support we received was huge! Overwhelming even. I met so many wonderful people this week, including the members of an organization called Adopt-a-Soldier, which was started to send letters and care packages to deployed soldiers to let them know that we care. We were able to get 7,000 letters sent to soldiers deployed around the world. Our goal this week was to get the Westbrooks into a house that would work for them. James, the son, and Gene, the dad, are both in wheelchairs. Dad suffered his injury while training troops in Iraq and returned from the field a paraplegic. One day a few months ago, on the way to a church picnic, the Westbrooks were in a terrible car accident that left young James paralyzed as wel...
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What do you do when an actor whom you’ve admired for years, and watched transfixed from the audience when he was on stage, who starred in Scarecrow, Serpico, Glengarry Glen Ross and the seminal masterpieces, The Godfather movies, is sitting 10 feet from you at the Polo Lounge? Well, it turns out, nothing. In all my years in Los Angeles and involved in the “business,” I have only once approached an acting hero. It was in Westwood at a movie theater. I saw Peter O’Toole standing in the lobby on the second level. I waved at him and called out, “Mr. O’Toole, you are an inspiration to me.” He called back from high atop the staircase with a grand flourish, “Thank you, my boy!” I have always been a bit reticent about approaching famous people in public. I was never interested in autographs, but it is a different thing to have been inspired by someone and feel a need to let them know that they have lifted you up and been an integral part of your ...
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I like to drink on The Office. And since we've stopped shooting, I'm hungover. Boy, am I hungover. What did I ever do to deserve this? I am so hungover that the thought of moving my head makes me sick to my stomach. The thought of food makes me feel like I'm gonna hurl. And when I say hurl, I mean barf, blow chunks and/or kiss the porcelain god. Never again. I'd like to say that I am never gonna drink again. I'd like to. But, let's face it: Meredith is the Office alcoholic so I am stuck with the drinker's booze. I feel better knowing that I work at the geeky-cool Dunder-Mifflin paper company. That makes me feel better — that and the hair of the dog are the only things that get me through. My weakness is also my strength. Booze makes me strong. I'm strong because I'm weak. Hey, don't read so loud. I think I am going to be sick.I just got back from the most amazing trip to Philadelphia. I was there to work the Philly Fit Fest for the NBC affiliate Channel 10. They have a very coo...
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So we premiered last week, and you all kicked some major tushy in getting our show some good numbers! Thanks for showing up! Welcome to the universe of Notes from the Underbelly for all you Idol watchers. Now this is your mission, should you choose to accept it: Call, email, send a smoke signal to anyone and everyone you’ve ever met and tell them — not ask them — to turn on our show and enjoy the funny this Wednesday at 8:30 pm/ET on ABC. If you do, some great stuff is going to happen for you. I don’t know what that is, but it’s gonna be sweet. Real, real sweet. In this next episode Lauren (Jenn Westfeldt) is having trouble deciding if she should quit her job as a high-school guidance counselor to be a "stay-at-home mom" or keep her job and be a "working mom." Julie (Melanie Paxson) attempts to woo her to stay home, while Cooper makes an equally compelling — and might I add sexier and hotter — reason to stay in the workforce. The girls duke it ou...
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So, I've noticed that the kind folks at TVGuide.com have moved me to the "Featured Blogs" section of their website. I wonder if this is because a lot of people are reading these entries, or because they're not. And then I figure, well, it's probably because I write such an amazing blog week after week. But then I remember last week's short, sad exercise and decide that I probably have little to do with the honor. Anyway, I've noticed, and I think it's nice.Now, there is (finally) a real, honest-to-goodness, brand spanking new episode of Ugly Betty this week. I'd tell you all about it — well, a little bit about it — but I'm not in it so I haven't seen the script. Sure, they would have given me one if I'd asked, but I kind of like not knowing. It reminds me of the beginning of the season when I was as much a fan of the show as I was a part of it.In fact, in this case, I'm glad I'm not in it. As a fan, I really feel like Betty needs a little time away from Henry. And since He...
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Last week we bid a fond farewell to another couple — Leeza Gibbons and Tony Dovolani, or rather Team Gibbolani. You'll never meet a classier, more upbeat person than Leeza. She has one of the kindest souls of anyone I've ever met. And Tony — what can you say about Tony? Fun, driven, passionate and a bit of a jokester. Two wonderful people who we're definitely going to miss at Dancing with the Stars.Another week, another dance — this week we have the samba. The samba is a get-up-off-your-feet and "shake what your mama gave you" kind of dance. It's another Latin dance and one of my favorites. It encourages you to let your hair down and really feel the music. Ian loves the fast dances, and this dance is fast. He has the perfect personality for the rhythm of the music, and I believe the audience is going to love what they see. Our music is pretty awesome this week, too. I can't tell you what it is because we like to keep that top-secret until the show, but it's a real cr...
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Many people may not know this, but shooting an NCIS episode is a lot of hard work and the schedule is absolutely crazy! But all that said, I have to say it is also one of my favorite things to do. I get to hang out and "play" with my friends, and laugh between takes with some of the funniest and silliest characters I have ever met. We shot the April 17 episode, "Once a Hero," a long time ago, and when I say a long time ago it may very well be two to three months ago. You lose perspective of time when you shoot, and I think all of us in the cast will agree with that statement. It has turned into a joke between us. As far as the episode goes, I don't remember the plot as much as I remember what happened behind the scenes. We shot part of this story in a hotel, somewhere close to the airport. I remember we were all wearing our "nice" secret-agent clothing, which in my case was a black skirt, a jacket, and a pair of heels, and my hair was sleeked back into a very clean ponytail. We were...
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So we're all on the New York street on the CBS Radford lot in Studio City shooting a How I Met Your Mother promo that's a parody of CSI, which they tell me is a popular show. We're all exhausted and not quite sure what we're doing. My sense is that on an hourlong procedural show, the hours are much worse but your face never has to change its expression. So that's a big up. Changing facial expressions is exhausting and overrated. They're setting up a shot of a corpse's feet right now. We're all pretty exhausted — the night's supposed to go very late and we have an early call. We haven't been officially picked up for a third season yet, but we're all seeing it as a good sign that CBS is having us do this. I'm going to have each cast member say something... get a little guest-blogging going.Me: Hey, guys. Give me a quote for my TVGuide.com blog.[Everybody thinks]Neil Patrick Harris: "I'm in a constant state of squint. And I like it. I like it a lot. It feels right, you know?"Alyso...
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I am so drunk. I am so drunk, I can hardly control my redheaded tongue. Meredith from The Office here. There's no telling what I'll say about Jim and Pam and the rest of the Office dirt. God help the bartender. He's like a priest. He hears things in the strictest of confidence in my drunken stupor. I can't tell you the bar or the bartender in case he has a weak moment. I am not waiting for the black coffee to kick in.OK, here goes. This is the real story. Jim and Pam are never going to get together... in this week's episode, "Safety Training." Don't repeat that. You seem nice enough. You won't tell anyone that I said that, will you? It's hot in here. I better open a window. I am drunk because I miss everyone. We just stopped working two weeks ago. Why am I drunk? That's why I am drunk. Is anybody listening to ol' Mer? Is anybody else feeling hot? I hope that's dried oatmeal on my sweater. I am drunk.But who am I trying to kid? I'd be drunk even if I was at work. Anyway....I am just ...
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The good news is that the seemingly endless parade of reruns is over! The bad news is that Season 1 of Ugly Betty is rapidly drawing to a close. This week's "clip show" will catch everyone up on what has happened up till now and introduce you to some of our wonderful writers along the way. And next week begins a five-week sprint to the finish. Oh, and we won the Peabody. Which is a pretty big deal. Amazing. Really. I want to use a bunch of exclamation points here, but the feeling of our show winning all of the awards we’ve won has gone past excitement and surprise to a kind of wonder. I can't speak for everyone, obviously, but for me it's become a bit of an out-of-body experience. Amazing.Which reminds me: you just can't get a good suit of armor these days. The first suit I tried on didn't fit. Not even close. It was like trying to wear a Red Bull. The second one worked, but how people ever fought in those things is beyond me. They’re loud, slow, awkward and, who am I kid...
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