Question: Rumors of Speedy on ER, rumors of Speedy on Alias — it's enough to drive the girls of FanForum crazy! What's the real scoop?
Answer: The real scoop is I have no clue if Speedman was ever up for the new agent role on Alias, but it's a moot point anyway: The role ended up going to Balthazar Getty (Into the West, Traffic).
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It's Carrie Fisher (aka Princess Leia) on Smallville! Who's she playing? When does she start? Click over to today's new Ask Ausiello for the scoop. Also in AA: news about ABC Family's Melrose Place reunion, the latest on those Scott Speedman ER rumors and an exclusive preview of The O.C.'s third season!
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Joey
No, it's not Chandler, but Matt LeBlanc is getting a Must-See friend. After a two-month search, Miguel Nunez Jr. (Juwanna Mann) has been tapped to join NBC's Joey this fall as a self-important actor who ultimately will become best buds with Joey. Other Season 2 tweaks include Joey landing the lead on a summer blockbuster film and more of Jennifer Coolidge as Joey's agent, for whom Drea De Matteo's character will go to work. "Last year was a lot of Joey getting acclimated to life in California," explains executive producer Kevin Bright. "We'd like to move the show into a bigger, funnier mode."
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ER
Question: OK, so now with the news that Sherry Stringfield is leaving ER again, what do you think will happen with the show? I mean, Noah will be back a couple of times in the next two years. But with Sherry now gone, there will be no original cast members left. The ones who are left have not been on the show long enough, I feel, to really make it good. Luka maybe, but that is all. I can't say I blame her for leaving, though. Since she came back to the show, Susan really has not done much worth. With a few exceptions, she has rarely been on, except for a scene here or there. I wonder, though, if she will change her mind again and come back in a few years!
Answer: I'm looking for some metaphor here about abandoning sinking ships, but can't find a very generous one, so I'll drop it. Truth is, like nearly everyone else on this tired show, Stringfield and the Susan character were underused and underwritten, and I'm not surprised she's walking. But I don't imagine she'll be terribly missed,
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Question: I recently caught a Christmas episode of Spin City that featured Charlie Sheen. Some of the staff appeared to be in an orphanage distributing gifts. Is it me or was that little blonde girl (I think her name was Cindy) the same girl who was in Taken?
Answer: Good eye, Kayla. Taken's small wonder, Dakota Fanning, did indeed play wee Cindy in the "Toy Story" episode, which originally aired on Dec. 20, 2000. At that young age her other TV appearances already included ER, Ally McBeal, The Practice, CSI and Malcolm in the Middle.
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Question: What can you tell us about Commander-In-Chief? Will there be similarities between it and The West Wing? Or will it be more like the days of ER and Chicago Hope when we had two decidedly different shows set in Chicago hospitals?
Answer: More the latter. Wisely, ABC's Commander-In-Chief is not attempting to be a clone of West Wing in any way except, perhaps, setting. Whereas West Wing is a romance about public service, Commander is, at least at first, a darker melodrama with the focus more on character and family than on banter and process. (For those who haven't caught ABC's plentiful promos, it stars Geena Davis as a political Independent who, as vice president to a popular Republican president who dies in office, assumes the top job despite massive opposition.) It's among the more recommended of this season's new dramas ...
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Question: Why is everyone bemoaning the renewal of Jake in Progress? If John Stamos did go to ER, he would have little opportunity to showcase his charm and comic talents on that depressing snoozefest. I liked the few episodes of Jake that I saw. Stamos was surrounded by a stellar supporting cast and benefited from some witty and polished writing.
Answer: I liked John Stamos more than I liked Jake. The show reminded me what a charismatic TV star he can be, given the right material. And from what I've heard, Jake may improve from some new, behind-the-scenes creative blood tweaking the show a bit. If so, then the yelps of puzzled surprise that greeted the show's unexpected renewal may subside when Jake returns midseason (at the moment, scheduled on Mondays post-football). It's true that ER has squandered many of its opportunities lately, when even the gifted Linda Cardellini of Freaks and Geeks is rendered dull and glum. But since ER isn't going away anytime soon, I had welcomed the
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Over There
It doesn't get much more ripped from the headlines than this: FX's groundbreaking new drama series, Over There (premiering tonight at 10 pm/ET), follows the men and women of an Army unit serving in the current Iraq war, as well as the loved ones they left back home. Lording over the group of new recruits is battle-hardened vet Chris "Sgt. Scream" Silas, played by Erik Palladino. If you remember the actor from his run as ER's Maluchi, a smart-mouthed hothead who said the things we only wish we could say to Kerry Weaver, you can appreciate that he, despite the role ahead of him, actually has already fought his toughest battle.
"[Maluchi] was a very difficult character for me to do each week," he tells TVGuide.com. "Everything that everyone ever said about him was true. Every week I got the script and was like, 'Wow, there really is nothing redeemable about this guy.' Every week I had to go out there and be the a----- of the show."
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This boy's Life: the cast of Life Goes On
Question: What was the name of the TV show with Becca and Corky?
Answer: That would be the groundbreaking ABC drama Life Goes On, which ran from September 1989 to August 1993. The first network show built around a character with Down syndrome (and one that featured an actor who had the condition to boot), it focused on the Thatcher family and borrowed its title from the classic Beatles song "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da," a version of which served as the theme song.
In the series' early days, Life Goes On revolved chiefly around the challenges facing 18-year-old son Charles (Christopher Burke), better known as Corky. Corky "mainstreamed" over from special education to high school when the show kicked off and, in doing so, added a new wrinkle to the daily life of younger sister Becca (ER's Ke
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Question: Is it true that Scott Speedman is going to be on ER?
Answer: It's true that producers are considering him for a role.
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