TV Guide Author: bruce.fretts

Tsunami's Wake Pulls Episodes

If you missed CSI: Miami's tidal-wave episode in November, you won't catch it again soon. In the aftermath of the real-life tragedy in Southeast Asia, the network has no plans to rerun the 90-minute "Crime Wave," in which Horatio Caine (David Caruso) and Co. investigate two murders as a tsunami engulfs the city's beaches. "We would never be so insensitive," says a network source. CSI: Miami's makers agree: "If it would remind one person of all the lives that were lost, it's not worth it," a show insider says. "Our job is to entertain, and when it intersects with tragedy, it's just terrible. We certainly don't aim for that." CBS wasn't the only network to respond to the disaster with caution. Disney Channel pulled four shows off its schedule, including episodes of Even Stevens and The Proud Family that featured scenes of tidal waves, an earthquake-themed installment of Lilo &amp; Stitch: The Series and the unfortunately

Wed, Jan 19, 2005

Ray Romano Talks About Sex

As the truth sinks in, we have to accept that, yes, our favorite TV family really is calling it quits. But not just yet. The Barones have come back for 16 more episodes of CBS's smash hitcom, Everybody Loves Raymond, which ends its run in May. Here, Ray Romano ponders his farewell season — and life after Raymond. TV Guide Online: Why did you decide to come back for one final season?Ray Romano: It was the stories. The whole thing wasn't the money, as much as it is [$1.8 million an episode] — and I apologize for that to everybody out there. It was all about, "Are we running it into the ground?" We just didn't want to compromise the quality of it. TVGO: What's up for Raymond this year?Romano: I [co-wrote] one of the first three [episodes]. The ones I write usually involve sex, so it's a lack-of-sex themed show. I believe I'll get lucky one evening, then the wife ends up having a big fight with the mother, which I

Thu, Sep 23, 2004

Gilmore Girl's Summer Dish

On last season's Gilmore Girls finale, Lorelai (Lauren Graham) finally heated up her long-simmering romance with short-order cook Luke (Scott Patterson). Of course, we at TV Guide Online are too impatient to wait until Sept. 21 (when Season 5 begins) to find out what happens next. So here we catch up with Graham, who dishes her TV love life, fires back at GG's critics and tells how she spent her summer vacation (with Vin Diesel and Jeff Bridges!). TV Guide Online: Are Luke and Lorelai now officially a couple?Lauren Graham: We're going down that road. It's time to do that, but the story has to stay complicated and not easily resolvable because that's good storytelling. I do know that this year we have David Sutcliffe back [as Christopher, Lorelai's ex], which is a relief. Last year, it was decided that Lorelai couldn't say to Rory, "Your dad can't drive you to Yale because he's on another network." [Sutcliffe co-starred

Tue, Aug 17, 2004

Tucker Carlson: Uncensored

What liberal media? Conservative pundit Tucker Carlson now headlines two shows — and Fox News Channel doesn't air either of them. The cohost of CNN's Crossfire is crossing over to PBS with a new talk show, Tucker Carlson: Unfiltered (debuting tonight; check local listings). TV Guide Online turned the tables on Carlson, grilling him about Britney Spears, his bow-tie habit and potential chat-show rivals Rev. Al Sharpton and Howard Dean. TV Guide Online: So what kinds of guests should we look forward to seeing on Unfiltered?Tucker Carlson: Only the most interesting. Anybody who has a talk show gets frustrated by the endless chase after name guests — some of whom are good, most of whom are not. Typically in Washington, the mindset is get the guy with the best title. I want to get the guy with the best information and the ability to convey it. Someone who doesn't use euphemisms and government-speak and doesn't bu

Fri, Jun 18, 2004

HBO's Strip Show Stirs Debate

"This movie is going to raise holy hell, and I may never work again," says director Sidney Lumet of HBO's Strip Search, a provocative drama about civil liberties in the post-9/11 era that airs April 27. The story cross-cuts between two degrading interrogations: In China, an American student (Maggie Gyllenhaal) gets grilled about her political activities, while in the U.S., an FBI agent (Glenn Close) gives a Saudi scholar (Bruno Lastra) the third degree. Now here's the kicker: Both sequences use the exact same script, implicitly equating the countries' treatment of suspects. The filmmakers maintain they're simply taking dramatic license to tell a cautionary tale. "Am I saying we're a totalitarian country? No," says writer Tom Fontana. "Am I saying we could become one? Absolutely." Such contentions have already stirred controversy among conservative watchdogs. "The premise is preposterous and insulting," says Media Research

Wed, Apr 14, 2004

The Apprentice's Sam Speaks!

It was a move that surprised absolutely no one — except Sam Solovey. On last night's Apprentice, Donald Trump finally canned Sam. From Day 1, the 27-year-old Internet entrepreneur from Chevy Chase, Md., created static with his teammates. But if you think the experience has humbled him, think again. TV Guide Online: Why was it such a struggle for you to stay on the show?Sam Solovey: I have a strong personality. I have a lot of big ideas. I was thinking out of the box, which I do in business, and it's been successful for me. And it didn't work in this environment. I may have been a threat. A lot of people in the working world think one-dimensionally, and I don't, and that often throws people off. TVGO: Do you think trying to sell a cup of lemonade for $1,000 hurt you?Solovey: I was actually very close to getting that sale. I'd be willing to go back to those people today and present them with the same offer, and I think they w

Thu, Jan 22, 2004

The Apprentice's Sam Speaks!

It was a move that surprised absolutely no one — except Sam Solovey. On last night's Apprentice, Donald Trump finally canned Sam. From Day 1, the 27-year-old Internet entrepreneur from Chevy Chase, Md., created static with his teammates. But if you think the experience has humbled him, think again. TV Guide Online: Why was it such a struggle for you to stay on the show?Sam Solovey: I have a strong personality. I have a lot of big ideas. I was thinking out of the box, which I do in business, and it's been successful for me. And it didn't work in this environment. I may have been a threat. A lot of people in the working world think one-dimensionally, and I don't, and that often throws people off. TVGO: Do you think trying to sell a cup of lemonade for $1,000 hurt you?Solovey: I was actually very close to getting that sale. I'd be willing to go back to those people today and present them with the same offer, and I think they w

Thu, Jan 22, 2004

Top Model's Janice Strikes Again!

"When we started thinking about judges, Janice Dickinson was one of the first people who popped into my head," says Tyra Banks, host and executive producer of UPN's America's Next Top Model (tomorrow at 9 pm/ET). "I'd never met her, but I'd heard the stories." One of the world's first supermodels (she claims to have invented the term), Dickinson lives up to her diva-may-care reputation with her merciless commentary on Top Model — and while talking with us. Meow! TV Guide Online: What do you bring to the show?Dickinson: Real-life experience, know-how, and a lot of frickin' fire. People want to get into brawling matches with me because I'm brutally honest. I feel I'm saving the girls a lot of time by telling them A) You're too fat, B) You're too old, C) You're too short. Tyra's way too nice. I'm not. TVGO: Do you consider yourself the Simon Cowell of Top Model?Dickinson: I look much better than Simon in a thong.

Tue, Jan 13, 2004