Anne Heche in Men in Trees by Sergei Bachlakov/ABC
Perhaps looking to break the time-slot change record set by Bernie Mac, Men in Trees is again being uprooted. The wonderful, deserving-of-a-better-audience series will air two hours earlier, Fridays at 8, starting Nov. 2. (In turn, 20/20 reclaims its 10 pm berth.)Elsewhere on ABC, Samantha Who? will move up to 9 pm Monday starting Nov. 26 — the night of DWTS' final performance show — where its lead-out will be Notes from the Underbelly. And as scooped by Ausiello, October Road returns Nov. 22 with a special post-Grey's outing before settling into its Mondays-at-10 home a few nights later.Related: ABC Says: Play It Again, Sam... antha
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Laura Prepon and Bryan Greenberg by Art Streiber/ABC
It's no secret that I despise October Road with every fiber of my being, but the soap has its fair share of admirers — even within the otherwise discriminating Aushole community. And it's for that reason and that reason only that I will try to relay some important information about the show without making a single snarky comment. Here we go....Sources confirm that October Road will kick off its second season on Thursday, Nov. 22, at 10 pm, immediately following Grey's Anatomy. It will then relocate to its regular Monday/10 pm timeslot on Nov. 26.OMG — I did it! That was easier than I thought! Hey, maybe this is the start of a new trend of me playing nice with bad TV shows. Only time will tell!
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Ricardo Antonio Chavira by Bob D'Amico/ABC
Desperate Housewives' Ricardo Chavira wed longtime girlfriend Marcea Dietzel on Sept. 22 in a private ceremony, the actor reveals on Tuesday's Entertainment Tonight.... DVD releases have been set for the My So-Called Life: The Complete Series and October Road: The Complete First Season (both on Oct. 30), and Superbad (Dec. 4).... Best-selling author James Patterson and the executive producers of ABC's Women's Murder Club, which premieres this Friday, will answer fans' questions via a live ABC.com blog tonight at 8 pm/ET.... Who's your favorite recurring Seinfeld character? Choose from our list and vote here.
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Sandra Oh in Grey's Anatomy by Bob D'Amico/ABC
Now that's what I like to see on TV's most overcrowded night: TV's top crime drama and TV's top medical soap back in fine form, the two most-awaited season premieres of the week delivering on the hype. And the icing on the cake? Another sensational episode of AMC's summer holdover Mad Men, the one show I never want to see end. I'm going to miss that one when it goes away in a few weeks. As much as I enjoy CSI and Grey's Anatomy, combatants of the highest and most satisfying order, they feel like old hat compared to this scrumptious, provocative period piece.First off: Big sigh of relief that Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox) lives on. As Michael Ausiello reports in his exhaustive interview with the star, her days on CSI may still be numbered, but for now, Grissom’s lady love is still kicking, no matter how bloodied, battered and sunburned. The teaser for next week’s episode reveals, no surprise, that the course of true love isn’t going to run smooth for these coworkers, but ther...
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Kate Walsh, Private Practice
Question: With all of the problems ABC has been having in the post-Grey's Anatomy time slot, is there some reason they haven't put Private Practice there? A lot of people who watch Grey's will watch Practice just about anywhere, but there are probably plenty who just aren't sure about it, and if it were aired after Grey's, they'd at least check it out. It seemed to work decently for both Buffy/Angel (when they were on the same network) and SG-1/Atlantis. I would think that this show would succeed in that time slot for at least a season.
Answer: You answered your own question when you noted that "a lot of people who watch Grey's will watch [Practice] just about anywhere." Private Practice is the centerpiece of an entirely new Wednesday lineup for ABC, and while I wish I liked the first episode better, I also think it's a smart move to use something that's more or less presold to the Grey's crowd (albeit not without some healthy skepticism) to anchor such a high-stakes night. Wednesdays,
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Question: I just looked up Men in Trees on TV Guide's handy-dandy directory and was shocked and dismayed to find that it had been moved to Fridays at 10 pm/ET, the death row of the television world. Why? Any insight would be appreciated. I was really looking forward to Grey's Anatomy and Men in Trees together again. Wishful thinking, I suppose.
Answer: Well, if Big Shots (the new drama following Grey's this fall) fares the way last year's Six Degrees did, which from what I've seen so far would be the right way to go (into oblivion: talk about smarmy), maybe Men in Trees could shift back there the way it did last season when Six Degrees collapsed. I couldn't agree more; Grey's and Trees made such a nice fit, and with Ugly Betty starting the night, what an enjoyable three-hour block. The good news about the move to Fridays is that expectations won't be so great, and with Trees already sitting on so many unaired hours from last season, I'm reasonably convinced ABC will just let it alone
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Question: If I promised we could be BFs, would you give me some October Road scoop? I'll bring the muffins!
Answer: Even though you left an F out of BFFs, I'm a sucker for muffins and, in fact, almost anything with frosting on it (don't judge me), so I will tell you this: Rod Lurie muse Julie Ann Emery (Line of Fire, Commander in Chief) has been cast in the recurring role of Ray's ex, a bitch and a half who'll trade insults - and blows - with Hannah. You may also remember Emery from The Riches, where she played Hugh's wife, the stripper. Now that that's out of the way, did I mention that I'm partial to sprinkles?
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Rebecca Field and Lindy Booth by Guy D'Alema/ABC
Fans of October Road can look forward to two new additions in Knights Ridge this fall. TVGuide.com recently learned that the ABC drama, about best-selling novelist Nick Garrett who returns home a decade after abandoning his friends and family, has promoted recurring characters Janet (Rebecca Field) and Pizza Girl (Lindy Booth) to series regulars for Season 2.“I love writing for these two,” says executive producer Scott Rosenberg. “They so capture the voice and spirit of the show. The thought of not being able to write for them sickened me so I called the studio and said, ‘I want to make them regulars.’”Field, who plays Hannah’s (Laura Prepon) bartender pal Janet, will be wooed by high-school beefcake Eddie this year. Meanwhile, Booth will lure lovable recluse Physical Phil (Jay Paulson) outside of his house for the first time since 9/11. Fans may recognize Field from her guest-starring stints on ER and Monk, while Booth had recurring roles on The 4...
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Peter Krause by Bob D'Amico/ABC
Get lost, ABC. That was the hostile undercurrent behind much of the questioning for ABC's entertainment president Stephen McPherson Wednesday morning. We critics can be a surly group, especially this late in the TCA press tour. (ABC has the bad luck to be up to bat on the final two days of the three-week hype-a-thon.) But give us something legitimate to gripe about — in this case, the decision by Lost's producers to skip the TCA and instead address the game-changing events behind Lost's cliff-hanger at the Comic-Con fan convention in San Diego on Thursday — and you'd better watch out.One reporter even put it this way: “Are we not important enough for you?” At first, McPherson tried to shrug it off with a joke, saying that he has hired Don Imus — fired earlier this year from his radio and TV gigs for a racial slur — to join the show. (This was the closest he or anyone else came to addressing the Isaiah Washington/Grey’s Anatomy debacle during his of...
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The latest pre-upfronts news:ABCDrama pickups: Dirty Sexy Money and Eli Stone (both from Everwood's Greg Berlanti); the Grey's Anatomy spin-off Private Practice, the Sex and the City-esque Cashmere Mafia; Pushing Daisies, Women's Murder Club; Big Shots (Dylan McDermott, Michael Vartan, Christopher Titus and Joshua Malina as CEOs/wannabes). Comedies: Cavemen; Sam I Am (Christina Applegate as an amnesiac); Carpoolers. Other notes: October Road and Notes from the Underbelly will return mid-season with 13-episode runs. (Today's News)FOXDrama pick-ups: The Terminator-inspired sci-fi-er The Sarah Connor Chronicles; K-Ville (concerning cops in post-Katrina New Orleans); New Amsterdam (about an immortal homicide detective). Comedies: Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton's Back to You (FKA Action News); Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino's The Return of Jezebel James (starring Parker Posey); The Rules of Starting Over (courtesy of the Farrelly Brothers) (Today's News).NBCDrama pick-up...
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