Question: I have quite a dilemma on my hands at this moment — what to watch on Thursdays at 8pm/ET. Do I watch my long-time obsession Alias, or my guilty pleasure, The O.C. Even though The O.C. wasn't quite up to par in its second season, I still can't resist the quirky Seth Cohen. But I can't give up my Alias, either. Why would ABC even put Alias in such a competitive time period when it has struggled in the ratings for so many years? Isn't it a bit risky to break away from the full J.J. Abrams night that gave Alias a boost in the ratings to begin with? Just wondering about your thoughts on the new time period.
Answer: I hate it. I also hate the fact that WB has moved Smallville and especially Everwood to Thursdays as well. These shows, including Alias, all have loyal, but relatively small followings, and the networks are punishing these fans by pitting these shows against similarly cultish shows like The O.C. as well as megahits like Survivor and CSI. This logjam creates a terrible
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Question: While it was great to see excellent shows like House and Deadwood recognized, we basically got the same old tired nominations for this year's Emmy Awards (Malcolm in the Middle?!). What's the truth? Are the voters lazy or clueless, or don't they own TVs that get more than four stations? Or do they just ignore outstanding shows like Gilmore Girls, Veronica Mars, Everwood and others because they are on WB or UPN? If that's the case, how can the awards and the academy claim to represent the best of television when members clearly lack the interest or ability to fulfill that obligation?
Answer: An excellent point. The Emmys would be so much better off if it allowed its nomination process to be overseen by a panel of experts both within and without the industry (including a few journalists, maybe?) who would attempt to represent the current state of the art, instead of falling back on the tried, trying and true. The continued apathy regarding the best of WB (and this year, a real
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As Brady Bunch devotees will recall, Bobby Brady grew up to become a race-car driver. But Mike Lookinland, the actor who played the youngest Brady boy, went racing down a different career path. After toying with the ideas of being a chemical engineer or an architect, Lookinland returned to the film industry, only this time behind the camera. He's currently the first assistant cameraman on the hit WB show Everwood.
"Where I am now is the pinnacle of the path I started on about 15 years ago," says Lookinland. "When I got back into the film business after college, I started out as a production assistant. At first I was working my way up toward joining the DGA [Directors Guild of America], but one day it occurred to me that assistant directing is mostly political and organizational, whereas assistant camera is mostly technical. I realized that in the long term, technical appealed to me over political. So I have been doing camera ever since."
Surpr
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If you're an Everwood fan, you've probably heard that Party of Five's Scott Wolf is joining the cast this fall as Dr. Jake Hartman, a hotshot physician who makes a play for Dr. Brown's (Treat Williams) clients. Well, before you could say, "You're a thief and a liar and a drunk!" TV Guide Online rang up the artist forever immortalized as Bailey to get the scoop on his Everwood character, married life and those baby rumors that started, well, just this second!TV Guide Online: Congrats on the new gig. What have they told you about the character?Scott Wolf: Not a ton. I do know that I'm going to be playing a doctor who comes to town and sets up shop in the now-abandoned medical practice across the way. The tension that got relieved by [Abbott and Andy] partnering up takes a new shape when this new guy comes to town and starts to draw a bunch of their business away.
TVGO: It's those dimples — they're hypnotic!Wolf:
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Thus far in his career, Mike Erwin has been most widely recognized as "the guy in the coma" on Everwood. But that will soon change, if WB's Lost in Space pilot takes off: The 25-year-old has been cast as the proposed remake's major hottie, Maj. Don West. "I actually get to play a cool character for once," he tells TV Guide Online enthusiastically. "I'm totally excited.
"[Buffy the Vampire Slayer grad] Doug Petrie is the writer, and he and I have a great relationship," he continues. "He even opened the door to allow me to create some of my character's choices. He wanted my input; that's really rare."
Although the actor bought the whole series on DVD to research his role, "I don't think we're going to be anything like the old one was," he says
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Many people say to me, "Party Boy, you have the best job in showbiz." Well, it is fun mingling with the stars at posh parties. It's also nice — however humbling — to stroll the red carpet on the way in, and be mistaken for an actual celeb! This happened on Saturday night at the WB's winter mixer for the Television Critics Assoc. press tour in Hollywood. Lined up behind crowd-control barriers, fans screamed for TV faves like Smallville's Tom Welling, Sabrina's Melissa Joan Hart and the Stults brothers from 7th Heaven. Clearly confused by my 90210-sized hairdo, two teenage girls insisted on shaking my hand, even after I swore to them, "I'm not on a show!"
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