William Petersen (CSI), Terry O'Quinn (Lost) and Johnny Galecki (The Big Bang Theory)
Starting with this week's column, Matt Webb Mitovich and Mickey O'Connor welcome fellow senior editor Tim Molloy to the Mega mix. Every Wednesday, our troika of scoop-hunters will answer your questions! (To that end, send all queries to mega_scoop@tvguide.com.)
I will be sad when William Petersen leaves CSI, because I don't think he will be able to be replaced. I will watch the first week he is gone, but I don't think I will watch it after that. — Fox
MATT: Normally I turn a blind eye to Mega Buzz questions not phrased as such, but this topic begs addressing. Having sneak-peeked this Thursday's (super-creepy!) episode, in which Gil first shares his decision to leave CSI, I concur that yes, it is going to be very hard to say goodbye come Jan. 15. But I must put this out there: Give change a chance. After getting a feel for Laurence Fishburne's criminology prof, I'm curious ...
read more
Lee Pace and Anna Friel in Pushing Daisies by Scott Garfield/ABC
Will the TV audience go out on a limb to embrace the much-buzzed-about pilot of ABC's delightfully one-of-a-kind Pushing Daisies, or will this one go the way of the whimsical and short-lived Wonderfalls (another offbeat gem from creator Bryan Fuller)? Will ABC's Private Practice and NBC's Bionic Woman continue to duke it out for bragging rights as the season's sole breakout hits? Or is it possible that having sampled the first episodes of each out of curiosity, disgruntled viewers will find something else to occupy their time? Is CW's over-the-top Gossip Girl destined to be a cult guilty pleasure at best? Can Casey become the first female Top Chef (here's hoping) when the winner is announced in the live finale? Will Cartman make us blush as he pretends to have Tourette's syndrome on the season-opener of South Park? (You’ve noticed I've turned away from network TV in addressing the 10 pm/ET hour. Only ABC's Dirty Sexy Money piques my interest from the big-three offerings in that...
read more
Question: I've been amazed when people have said in previous Ask Matt questions that they don't want to start watching a show because of the chance it might be canceled. I've lived through the agony of having shows I've cared for canceled. I was crushed when Dark Angel ended mid-story. I was in agony when Firefly ended prematurely and stunned when Farscape was canceled after a gut-wrenching cliff-hanger. And there are many others: Wonderfalls, Dead Like Me, Veronica Mars, Drive. Doubtless there will be others. But I don't regret having watched any of these shows. Would my life have been less rich if I had never watched Firefly? Would I be better off if I had never seen Dead Like Me? I understand wanting a beloved show to go on for seven or eight seasons, but I'm grateful even for the brief glimpses into alternate realities that these shows provided. I would have loved to see where Wonderfalls would have gone, but I'm delighted that I got to experience the show at all. So yes, some of ...
read more
Ever-underappreciated TV journeyman Tim Minear and Emmy-winning director Todd Holland, with whom Minear collaborated on the critically praised Wonderfalls, have landed a pilot commitment from ABC for Miracle Man, the Reporter reports. The drama — which sparked a bidding war between ABC and Fox — focuses on a disgraced televangelist who realizes that God is using him to perform real miracles and get Drive back on the air change lives. Minear is penning the script, Holland will direct, and both will exec-produce.Related: Exclusive! Buffy Comic Keeps the Faith
read more
Question: Have you seen any other episodes beyond the pilot of Pushing Daisies? I watched it last night — it's absolutely fantastic! But I'm worried it might be too quirky and non-mainstream to get a big enough audience to satisfy ABC, as was the fate of Bryan Fuller's previous Wonderfalls and Dead Like Me. I've seen promos during other ABC shows and have read that it's been screened at various functions and festivals recently, but probably only in larger cities like New York and L.A. It seems ABC is getting behind it, but what kind of numbers do you think it will have to achieve, and hold on to, in order to stay around a full season?
Answer: Impossible at this point to know or predict. And for the record, I haven't yet seen beyond the pilot of this or any other fall series. Can't wait, of course. There are so many intangibles involved in deciding a show's fate, including the timeslot it's in, how the quality of the episodes holds up, how its performance affects the rest of the
...
read more
Question: I was intrigued to hear that the creative team behind Dead Like Me is producing the new Pushing Daisies. And since Tony Award-winning actress Kristin Chenoweth is in the cast, I can't be more excited for this show. I find her to be one of the most underrated talents in television and film. Producers are now choosing their actors from the Broadway community (i.e., Sara Ramirez) more than ever. Considering Chenoweth's career as a popular character actress in film and television (remember her show Kristin?), it will be interesting to see how her persona comes through and is challenged by this character.
Answer: As I've been telling everyone, and as I reported again in the last days of the TCA press tour, Pushing Daisies is easily my favorite pilot of the new fall crop. Besides Chenoweth, the cast also includes stage vets Swoozie Kurtz, Ellen Greene and, as the romantic leads, theater-trained Lee Pace (who was also seen in Bryan Fuller's Wonderfalls) and Anna Friel (Broadway's
read more
Question: I wanted to respond to your comments about the idea that perhaps the unaired episodes of canceled shows should not be streamed online, and instead viewers should simply "move on." I've yet to have a show I watch sent to this online exile, but I've had tons of shows of which I was a fan canceled with unaired episodes that later surfaced on DVD. Surely, I was better off seeing the entire glorious season of Wonderfalls rather than "moving on" after the handful that aired, wasn't I? Even without a lick of closure, the unaired Christmas episode of Tru Calling was a gem. And Firefly was only getting better through its unaired episodes. (Of course, in that case we fans finally got our closure in a different medium.) Might the problem that viewers are having this year with the Vanisheds and Kidnappeds of the world have more to do with streaming technology, or the fact that their unaired episodes were themselves not very good, than that the notion of watching unaired eps at all is a ...
read more
Question: I can't believe you left Wonderfalls off your list of shows premiering on the new MIA network! Just so you know, it starts at 29:37 pm on Oct. 41. Set your DVR!
Answer: It's funnier when I say it.
read more
Question: There was a question in your Oct. 16 column about the recent disappearance of opening theme songs and credits. You responded that, "Whatever the reasons, something is lost when credits and theme songs that once were an iconic cultural signature for a show (and sometimes a network) have been dropped for mercenary purposes." I beg to differ! I would much rather enjoy 30 seconds of intern antics on Grey's Anatomy, a hidden clue on Lost or quick-witted banter on Studio 60 than the same catchy tune week after week. Perhaps that extra 30 seconds of actual show will turn into a more iconic cultural signature than a theme song ever could. The opening scenes of Lost and Studio 60 are often so engrossing that only the simple, one-note impact of the show title can do them justice. I think more shows should go this route. Give me more Emily Gilmore snarkiness and I certainly won't fast-forward through it, as I always do with the Gilmore Girls theme song.
Answer: The response to that topic
...
read more
Question: I have a laundry list of questions about summer viewing: Is Life on Mars going to have a second season, or was it a one-off? (I'm scared to death of the American remake — I'm expecting Starsky & Hutch.) I was disappointed to hear about the bad ratings of Brotherhood — it's too good to be ignored. If there is no second season, will we be left hanging, or does the first series come to some sort of resolution? I know it's early, but what is the likelihood of Vanished making it through the season? Is Fox willing to take a chance based on the success of 24 and Prison Break, or will this be another Firefly/Wonderfalls/Reunion? Finally, what is your reaction to Denis Leary getting an Emmy nomination for acting but not one for writing? As good as he is as Tommy Gavin, his and Peter Tolan's scripts are the heart of that series. How could the writing be ignored?
Answer: There is a second series of Life on Mars, but no word on when BBC America will present
read more
