Question: TV Swami, after watching the finale of NCIS, please tell me that Mark Harmon is not leaving the show! He's the core of the cast. Thanks for all the great scoops! Answer: Mark Harmon is not leaving the show. As Michael Weatherly told TV Guide's Mary Murphy, "He's the spine of the show. Without him it's a show about jellyfish. We need our spine."
Question: OMG! Josh Schwartz reads AA, too! Answer: Can you believe it?!?!?!?! Hey, speaking of Josh, as promised, here's the remainder of our interview, including scoop on what impact Marissa's death will have on the show next season and how he feels about The O.C.'s new Thursday competition: How much time will have passed when next season starts?It won't pick up directly. We're not coming back until November, and I think we'll use some of that time to put a couple of months between us and the tragedy. But it certainly will not be forgotten. Will Volchok be back?Yeah, Volchok will be around, and you'll have an opportunity to see how [killing Marissa] landed on him and affected him, and I think that will be interesting. The show was originally about Ryan and the Cohens, an
Question: Um, the Jorja Fox interview? Not to be rude, but hello? Where is that bad boy? Answer: Um, not to be rude, but I posted it in the Ausiello Report two weeks ago.
Question: Any idea why Annie Parisse is leaving Law & Order? Answer: Wasn't it because she was a lesbian? Oh, wait, I'm mixing up my ADAs. I hear Ms. Parisse was let go because she wasn't [rhymes with shuckable] enough. Lordy, I love this business.
Question: What's the story with the second season of The Closer? Answer: *n* **** ***e* **o.
Question: Is there any spoiler-worthy information you'd be willing to share with a heartbroken Everwood fan such as myself? Answer: I can tell you how this season would have concluded if the damn CW picked it up for a fifth year. The cliff-hanger would have revolved around Ephram receiving a voice mail from Madison saying that she was back in town. (Sarah Lancaster would've appeared in a single scene at Sam's). Torn between ignoring the message to go meet Amy down on the street or calling his ex back, Eph foolishly lets Amy wait while he dials. The last scene would have been him saying, "Madison? It's me." It's all a moot point though, since the alternate series-finale ending will now be used instead. I haven't seen it, but according to someone who has read the script, it's romantic and beautiful. And long overdue.
Question: Will NBC show the remaining episodes of Joey? Answer: Yes. Probably in August.
Question: Please give me some info on Lost. I love you soooooo much! Answer: OK, but this is a tad spoilery, so beware. Before the two hours are over, Michael and Walt will be reunited and we'll learn what exactly Henry Gale's role is with the Others. Also, when the survivors come face-to-face with the Others — and they will come face-to-face — questions regarding their appearance will become of paramount importance.
Question: Is it just me, or is it too good to be true that JD and Kim are having a kid on Scrubs? There must be a catch — although I am hoping JD and Turk can have kids at the same time. That would be hilarious. Answer: Glad I'm not the only one waiting for the other baby booty to drop. Bill Lawrence told me last week that Kim is definitely pregnant, but he also said Elizabeth Banks will only be sticking around for a few episodes next season. You'd think a pivotal plot like that would require a lengthier commitment on Banks' part, no?
Question: Do you think Mischa Barton spilling the beans to Access Hollywood was all a big hoax, and Marissa isn't really dead? Answer: Considering that Fox ripped Barton's publicist a new one immediately after Access Hollywood released that damaging press release, I'm guessing not. (Oh, how I would've loved to have listened in on those phone calls.) Her rep is spinning it that Barton was under the impression Access wasn't running the story until Friday — after the finale aired — but I'm not buying it. Barton royally frakked up, plain and simple. Also, if you read my Q&A with Josh Schwartz last week, you can tell that he was pretty pissed off that the big secret got out
Question: Which new shows are you most interested in seeing next season? Answer: I'll get into all of my fall picks in an upcoming AA, but at the top of my must-see list are NBC's Heroes and Friday Night Lights, CBS' The Class and Smith, ABC's The Nine and Six Degrees, and Fox's Vanished.
Question: The season finale of Grey's Anatomy left me wondering if my favorite actress, Katherine Heigl, is coming back next season, since she quit the intern program. Is she? Answer: Katherine Heigl is not leaving the show. As Shonda Rhimes said in the Ausiello Report, Izzie's meltdown and subsequent exit was all part of her grand plan.
Question: I love Lost, though this minor thing has been bugging me for some time. In the episode "Homecoming," Claire returns with no recollection of anything on the island. In "Maternity Leave," she recalls her encounters with Ethan but nothing involving the time before that. Will more of her memory come back to her or will she forever forget the pre-Ethan stuff? Answer: Although this wasn't made crystal clear on the show, Claire has regained all of her memories. "It came back in bits and pieces," Carlton explains. "But, obviously, the most stressful stuff — the stuff related to when she was in the medical hatch — came back last."
Question: Any scoop on tonight's Lost finale? You left us high and dry last week! Answer: My sincerest apologies. But rest assured, when I'm not dispending Lost dish, I'm chasing it down. At ABC's upfront bash last week, I cornered Carlton Cuse and politely demanded that he cough up "The Challah" at once. "It launches what we are going to be doing in Season 3," he said of the top-secret cliff-hanger, "and I think it will give the audience a good idea where the show will be going next season. This season was really about the hatch, and when you see 'The Challah,' it'll really give you a sense of what the next chapter of the show is all about." For more scoop de Cuse, keep reading….
Question: I just finished watching the Scrubs finale, and while I was really happy with it, one thing was definitely missing. All of the ads said that Turk and Carla would pick a baby name, but they didn't. Any news on why this was left out? Also, please tell me you guys put Donald Faison (Turk) on your supporting-actor list. This was by far his best season yet. Answer: According to a Scrubs rep, we'll learn the name of the baby — chosen by fans on NBC.com — when it's born next season. And no worries about Faison. He was one of my non-negotiables.
It's official: Ask Ausiello readers are a powerful bunch. PETA just announced the results of its 2006 World's Sexiest Vegetarian poll and, thanks in no small part to all of you, Kristen Bell won top female honors! But that's not the big news. No, the real story is in the male category, where a certain someone near and dear to all of our hearts finished in third place, surpassed only by Prince and INXS lead singer J.D. Fortune! I'm talking about me!! This is, like, the 43rd most exciting thing that's ever happened to me! You guys rock! Veggie burgers on me tonight! The official press release is below:POP ICON PRINCE AND VERONICA MARS STAR KRISTEN BELL ARE VOTED ‘WORLD’S SEXIEST VEGETARIANS'Thousands of Votes Cast at PETA.org for Celebrities Who Exude Both Passion and CompassionNew York — The veggie voters have spoken, and PETA is pleased to announce that Grammy-winning rock royal Prince and the “veggie Venus” of Veronica Mars, Kristen Bell, have been selected...
Aside from that egregious Everwood snub, CW's fall schedule is close to perfect. Monday: 7th Heaven, RunawayTuesday: Gilmore Girls, Veronica MarsWednesday: Top Model/Beauty and Geek, One Tree HillThursday: Smallville, SupernaturalFriday: WrestlingSunday: Everybody Hates Chris, All of Us, Girlfriends, The GameAlso, Reba received a last-minute 13-episode reprieve, which pretty much means Everwood is the only bubble show that didn't make the cut. Dawn Ostroff's got some explainin' to do.Speaking of Everwood, I've been trading e-mails with exec producer Rina Mimoun and she wanted to offer a "final thank you to all our fans for all their hard work and effort. I'd love to give a giant cyberhug to everyone who has been so amazing to us."The one silver lining here is that, as you know, Mimoun and her team prepared for the worst and shot an alternate series-finale ending. So at the very least, our beloved Everwood will get a fitting send-off. Little consolation, I know.Off to Madison Square ...
Fox isn't doing too much tinkering with its schedule. The complete press release is below.FOX ANNOUNCES PRIMETIME SLATEFOR 2006-2007 SEASONTHREE NEW DRAMAS AND TWO NEW COMEDIES JOIN NETWORK’S SCHEDULE ADDITIONAL DRAMA AND COMEDY ANNOUNCED FOR MID-SEASON NEW SATURDAY LATE-NIGHT ENTRY HOSTED BY SPIKE FERESTENUNSCRIPTED SERIES INCLUDE SIMON COWELL’S “DUETS” AND MARK BURNETT AND STEVEN SPIELBERG’S COMPETITION “ON THE LOT” New York (Thursday, May 18, 2006) – FOX today unveiled its primetime schedule for the 2006-2007 television season, featuring the network’s most stable and balanced slate in years. Three new dramas and two new comedies will complement returning favorites on every night of the week this fall, announced Peter Liguori, President, Entertainment, Fox Broadcasting Company.The new dramas premiering this fall are VANISHED and STANDOFF from 20th Century Fox Television and JUSTICE from Warner Bros. Television and hitmaker Jerry Bruckhe...
Here are some scoopy (and slightly-spoilerish) highlights from my recent Upfront adventures. At ABC's after party yesterday, a little birdie told me that there was a reason Lost baddie Michael Emerson (Henry Gale) made the trek to New York with the rest of the cast to shmooze with advertisers: He's returning next season as a series regular. 24's Kim Raver — now one of the stars of ABC's new drama The Nine — had this to say about Monday's two-hour finale: "It is unbelievable, and it sets up next season in such an extraordinary way." Hmmm... maybe there is something to those rumors that next season picks up immediately where this season leaves off. I ran into my good buddy JJ Abrams — he was on hand pushing his new drama Six Degrees — and I'm relieved to report that all the M:I:III hoopla hasn't gone to his head. He was the same old down-to-earth JJ. He told me that he spent the previous night hashing out the plot of the new Star Trek movie with fellow Lost creato...
The big news (and the worst kept secret in the TV biz) is that Without a Trace is headed to Sunday night. The complete release is below.CBS ANNOUNCES 2006-2007 PRIMETIME SCHEDULECBS announced today the addition of four new series to its 2006-2007 primetime line-up, enhancing a line-up that will return 18 shows from last year's schedule, including six from last season's freshman class. The line-up, which includes three new dramas and one new comedy, was unveiled this morning by CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler. The four new shows feature a roster of award-winning actors and executive producers and a unique mix of concepts and genres. The freshman series include a young and sexy ensemble comedy, THE CLASS, from "Friends" co-creator David Crane; SMITH, a high octane heist thriller from "ER's" John Wells starring Ray Liotta and Virginia Madsen; the apocalyptic drama JERICHO, from the producer of "National Treasure," Jon Turteltaub, starring Skeet Ulrich ("Scream"); and SHARK, a ...
Question: You gave us nothing on 24 last week! Make up for it now. How's the finale? Answer: Haven't seen it, but I've heard it's piddle-worthy. Here's some prattle to make up for last week: Aaron Mike and Martha are going to team up to help Jack take down Logan. And I'm told the ending will make your heart go pitter-patter. At least the first ending will.
Question: Give me something on Battlestar Galactica to hold me over until October. Answer: I'll do better than that. I'll run my entire interview with exec producer David Eick sometime in the next week. I'm pleased to report that he answered almost all of your questions. In the meantime here's a little something to whet your appetite: "A very central character will no longer be with us by the end of the third episode," reveals Eick. "At the end of the day this is a war show, and there are casualties. And we can't just see extras getting killed. Sometimes it's got to hit us where we live."