Skeet Ulrich in Jericho by Cliff Lipson/CBS
Just a thought: If the strike lasts much longer, do you think CBS' Big Brother house has room for all of us? I joke, of course, but I also fear that if things don't get resolved soon, it's going to be a long, cold winter indeed for fans of good old everyday regular non-reality TV.In the last few days, we’ve seen cliff-hanger episodes of Desperate Housewives and Heroes that felt like season finales, and for all we know, that’s what they might be, if production doesn’t resume early in the new year for the back half of their seasons. For the first month of the writers’ strike, viewers didn’t feel much pain (except for fans of late-night comedy, the first casualty) because we were in a sweeps month chock-full of original episodes. Life went on as usual. That’s about to end. There are scattered episodes of many series yet to air in December, and a few leftovers for early 2008. But come the new year, the TV landscape’s going to start looking mighty diffe...
read more
Question: Since about 2000, I've tried to find one place on the TV lineup where there are three continuous hours of television that I want to watch. I think it began with Millionaire, The West Wing and Law & Order, and then there was Gilmore Girls, Veronica Mars and Judging Amy. My favorite trifecta was last season's Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy and Men in Trees, which was fun while it lasted. Now, to my surprise, this year I have an all-freshman guilty-pleasure trifecta on Wednesdays: Pushing Daisies, Gossip Girl and Dirty Sexy Money, although that will soon be complicated by another guilty pleasure, Project Runway. I know that since you get screeners you don't necessarily watch TV live or in order, but do you have a trifecta?
Answer: It's not so much that I get screeners (fewer than you'd imagine this time of year) but that, like others who watch TV in high volume with an eye for time management in a DVR age, I tend not to watch TV in real time. That often means that I start the evening by
...
read more
Tuc Watkins and Kevin Rahm by Ron Tom/ABC
by Michael LoganTwo gay guys are about to shake up Wisteria Lane, but it's not their sexuality that's the issue — it's their bad taste in art! On October 21, Desperate Housewives (Sundays at 9 pm/ET, ABC) will introduce newbie neighbors Bob and Lee — played by Tuc Watkins (One Life to Live) and Kevin Rahm (Judging Amy) — and they'll quickly get tiffy with Susan (Teri Hatcher)...read more
read more
Anthony LaPaglia in Without a Trace by Mitch Haddad/CBS
In years past, CBS's stability (which you've gotta know the other networks covet) has often been criticized as complacency, especially in these last few years of wall-to-wall crime dramas. Zzzzzz. That's about to change, with a fall lineup of new, intriguing high concepts that could open some eyes where the Eye net is concerned and give CBS the one thing it most desperately desires: Buzz. Let's hope some of the new stuff sticks.There is reason to be skeptical. The few shows from last season that went particularly "off brand" didn't last, most notably the serialized crime caper Smith (gone in three weeks) and the apocalyptic Jericho (canned after one season, which ended in a hail of bullets between warring towns, leaving fans on edge and up in arms themselves). The nagging question is if CBS will truly give its offbeat new lineup a chance to distinguish itself or instead will fall back on the tried and true that works so well for a network known for its satisfying, crowd-pleasing mai...
read more
Raise your hand if you're already hooked. Shonda, you have just sold me on Grey's 2.0, or what you are currently planning on calling it: Private Practice. I can't imagine ABC not picking the show up for the fall. To make this easier for me to write, but more importantly, to give it a more reader-friendly approach, I'd like to split this in two. I'll get to my comments on the very well-executed Kate Walsh pilot later. First, let's talk about Grey's...I. GREY'S ANATOMYWhen I heard that Meredith was going to be experiencing another family death, my initial thought was Thatcher, but then I felt that it would be silly to kill off her father right after her mother. When her step mom Susan (Mare Winningham) showed up again at Seattle Grace, this time with perpetual hiccups she claimed were due to her acid reflux, I agreed with Meredith and Thatcher. I figured Susan was faking it as an excuse for Thatcher to spend needed quality time with his daughter. As Susan kept returning with worse sym...
read more
Question:
I am so glad to hear that Everwood creator Greg Berlanti is now collaborating with the writing team for Brothers & Sisters. This show has been a big question mark for me (along with Six Degrees), but I have been looking forward to trying it out. It has a great cast, appealing promos and now a fantastic writer! Do you think Berlanti's involvement has the potential to make this my Everwood semireplacement?
Answer: The news that Berlanti is giving Brothers a creative hand is one of the few positive headlines I've heard lately. I'm still not sure a show like this can fill the Everwood void, though. Also on the Brothers & Sisters front, Ryan wonders: "I heard a rumor they are reshooting the pilot of Brothers & Sisters without Dan Futterman! Say it ain't so! He had great chemistry with Calista Flockhart in The Birdcage, and in the scene available on the Web from the original pilot. I was ecstatic when he returned to Judging Amy in 2004 and saddened that it was the show's final
...
read more
Question: Am I the only one who found The Unit's "Stepford Wives" unsettling? They were browbeating the newcomer, telling her they had chosen the place for her to live. I forced myself to watch the entire episode to give it a chance, but I won't be giving it a second chance. The newcomer husband didn't even question the on-base housing after returning from his mission, even though he and his wife had agreed upon off-base housing.
Answer: I think we're meant to be unsettled by the rigid code of conduct among the wives (reflecting the do-or-die discipline their husbands must honor in their secret-ops missions). Joining this unit means giving up one's independence, and part of the drama of the show is watching this outsider adjust. You may have tuned out, but hardly anyone else did. The show's an instant hit.
On another CBS Tuesday-night-scheduling front, Stephen asks: "It seems like CBS is throwing anything it can at Tuesday to see if it will stick, mainly at 10 pm/ET. What gives? First
...
read more
Question: Last year, after CBS dropped Judging Amy, there was talk that there might be a movie to wrap things up. Any word on whether such a project will happen?
Answer: Amy Brenneman pitched one to CBS execs, but they passed.
read more
In other pilot casting news — and these days, there always is some — Gina Gershon (you say Showgirls; I say Bound) is set to star in NBC's Lipstick Jungle; Rachel Boston (American Dreams) has been cast in a CBS series about a young couple that moves to the woman's hometown; Kristin Lehman (Judging Amy) will star opposite Cole Hauser in the Fox legal drama Damages; and Moon Bloodgood (Eight Below) has joined ABC's Our Thirties.
read more
Sharon Gless and Tyne Daly, Cagney & Lacey
Question: I don't have any wagers, arguments or bets to settle. I just have a question, if that's OK. Was there another actress who played Cagney on Cagney & Lacey before Sharon Gless did, or is my memory failing already? Thank you for your time.
Answer: Actually, there were two, Ruth. Loretta Swit (M*A*S*H) first played Det. Chris Cagney in the CBS TV-movie that aired in 1981. However, after that movie proved successful enough for the network executives, who didn't initially believe the concept was strong enough for a show to order up a series, Swit was unavailable. In stepped actress Meg Foster, and the reason for her abrupt departure, together with the lack of network spin on it, provides an interesting lesson in how different today's political climate is from that of 20 years ago.
"[T]oo
read more
