2009 Showtime TCA

One of the more surprisingly funny panels at TCA this month was for Showtime's Secret Diary of a Call Girl. Well, anytime you get a room full of critics talking about dominatrix training and "modesty sacks," it's got to be a pretty good time.

The show's star, Billie Piper, let us in on some of the upcoming stories for the show, how playing a call girl has changed perceptions of her, and whether the US or UK was more prudish about the show. Read on for highlights:

• Playing Belle means men are terrified of her: "Men don't come anywhere near me anymore," Piper said. "They seem so threatened by me now. They also just stare for ages, like I'm going to do something wild and raunchy. And, you know, much to their disappointment, it never really happens."
• She was never really worried that playing a prostitute would harm her image: "I really, really liked the early drafts of the script. I liked the idea," she said. "I didn't really think about it too much. I think my family and friends were quite concerned about my mental state and well-being when I was making the show, but they got over it pretty quickly."
• But it sure surprised London: "People were really shocked when Billie took the role in the UK," said producer Rebecca De Souza. "Her perception at home was very much as a kind of girl-next-door darling, the nation's darling. So to take a role like this was really quite extraordinary, very, very bold."

To find out what's coming up for both Hannah and Belle and find out how to see the season two premiere even if you don't have Showtime, just read more

Depending on your attitude, Rosemarie DeWitt either has great luck or terrible luck with on-screen sisters. She recently starred as Rachel opposite Anne Hathaway's Kym in Rachel Getting Married, and now she's the foil to Toni Collette's Tara in United States of Tara, which just premiered to strong ratings. At TCA, I chatted with DeWitt about her film families, how she got the Tara gig, and how much Rachel was like a real wedding. Here are highlights:

How did you get the role of Charmaine?
It was just like a straightforward, old-school audition that I had. I read the script, I thought it was fantastic, and when I auditioned for it I think the part of the sister was a guest star. So it wasn't a super high-pressure situation . . . I auditioned where Spielberg and Dreamworks is all set up, and I remember thinking, "I just want to work here."

When did you find out that you were getting the upgrade to a regular character? Did that give you a chance to get more into playing Charmaine?
It was over the Summer where they invited me back, and we spoke and they said, "We're going to change Charmaine a little bit." TV I feel like you have to play — in most ways I'm nothing like Charmaine, but you have to play it a little closer to yourself, because they do change things at the 11th hour, and if you were doing some crazy character with a hunchback and now you're running a marathon — I don't know, you just have to be able to do it, basically. So they made her a little bit more quote-unquote normal. I was happy that there was a lot more love between Tara and Charmaine. She's an outsider but it would have really been hard to be like Anne Hathaway and I are in Rachel.

It was interesting to hear Diablo Cody say that Charmaine is looking for attention.
She's got a lot of issues. It's funny, because she's really awesome, and she just, I think, doesn't like herself that much. The vitamin sales, I think, are a little bit of a self-help program in and of themselves, and she's got some body issues, and issues with men, so there's just so many places to go with her and so many women in my own life to observe and draw from.

To hear more about Charmaine and Tara's relationship and how it differs from Rachel and Kym's, read more

The sixth and final season of The L Word starts this Sunday. Yesterday, some of the stars and the show's executive producer, writer, and director Ilene Chaiken sat down at TCA to talk about what it has meant to them and what we can expect from these last eight episodes. While the mystery of who killed Jenny Schecter will be a storyline, it's not all we have to look forward to.

Oh, and about the photo below, Leisha Hailey joked that the what has gotten the most fan reaction is seeing Katherine Moenning in a dress — I must say, I totally agree, but on the panel she looked perfectly Shane. Warning: There were some The L Word spinoff details revealed, but I kept everything spoiler-y after the jump.

• Chaiken on the show's run: "We had our ups and our downs and we hit our stride on the sixth season. It keeps getting better and better and we end on a high."
• Chaiken on guest stars to expect this season: Lucy Lawless, Elizabeth Berkeley. "As always, some great guest stars and exciting actors we got to work with, but season six is about this core group of characters. We wanted to devote these last eight episodes to tell stories about these characters."
• Chaiken on the decision to kill off Jenny: "We said 'What's the story we are going to tell this year?' and the decision to tell that story came out due to a lot of things. The trouble that Jenny has gotten in over the years, she's provoked everyone. All of the dialogue that goes on around the show — journalists, fans, etc — were probably resonating in there somewhere. Jenny has a lot of fans and she's the character people love to hate. She's provoked rage."
• Jennifer Beals on her favorite fan moments: "One, a couple won a walk-on [part on the show] as an auction item. They were in their 60s and been together over 30 years and in the closet for longer that. They told us from watching the show that they were able to come out to their friends, family, people at work. Giving people encouragement to be their most authentic self made me feel really proud. Two, I recently got a letter from a young woman [who knows she is gay]. She was 16 and she said it was the loneliest time of her life. She said by watching the show it had saved her life because she had contemplated killing herself. Realizing that there were other people out there, part of a larger community and one day she might be able to take part, she was encouraged."

Laurel Holloman also talked about The L Word conventions around the world. Jennifer Beals revealed that she is working on a book of photos of the cast throughout the seasons filming and off set. The proceeds will go to charity including the Matthew Shephard Foundation. For juicy news about the spinoff, the murder mystery and Shane's love through the series just read more

It's NBC's turn to present at the TCA press tour today, but before they take the stage, I wanted to pass along some of the remaining goodies from the CBS and Showtime presentations. I've got lots of good stuff — including an interview with United States of Tara and Rachel Getting Married star Rosemarie DeWitt —that I'll share in the coming days, but for now, some highlights from Wednesday's panels:

• Showtime's Nurse Jackie, which stars Edie Falco, is about a woman who's the absolute best nurse imaginable but also has serious human flaws — namely a severe addiction to pharmaceuticals (and an affair with her pharmacist). The show will premiere later this year and be paired with Weeds. Two of the show's executive producers are recovering addicts, so that part of things should feel very real — but that doesn't make it somber. "We love addictions," cracked executive producer Linda Wallem. "We think they're hilarious and great."
• The lovely Joss Stone came by to discuss her role as Anne of Cleves on The Tudors. It's her first real acting job and not an easy one to jump into, but she said that was OK: "I prefer to do that. I like to go headfirst into whatever it is." She said she also appreciated knowing that — unless the producers were seriously changing history — she wouldn't be leaving the show with her head cut off.
• Speaking of which, if you're waiting for the part of the show where Jonathan Rhys Meyers gets ugly and fat to play King Henry, well, don't hold your breath.

To hear some funny revelations from the Secret Diary of a Call Girl panel, read more

Jonathan Rhys Meyers was a spunky and handsome addition to yesterday's Showtime TCA event to meander through the next season of The Tudors. While Buzz has the info about his relationship with Joss Stone plus other tidbits from the day's panels, here's what Jonathan had to say about playing the famous character and what sex scenes are like:

• On whether he'll gain weight like Henry VIII: "No. I’m not going to turn into the Holbein painting. . . I played it my way. I could have put on the red hair and gained the weight but it’s already done. I’m not that guy. This is not that show. . . We wanted to make something with the exciting backdrop but it's entertainment, it’s television. . .We have to play with history a little bit. I had to play him my way."
• On love then vs. now: "Marriage was a commercial venture rather than a love thing. You married and you had children because children brought you heirs and security for your legacy. . . Usually they were arranged for commercial, political and state value and occasionally a love match was found."
• On being comfortable with his love scenes: "Very comfortable. There are worse things you could do with yourself on a rainy Tuesday morning in Dublin than hop in bed with [these ladies]."

Source and Source

United States of Tara is one of the most unusual shows to hit TV in a while — even for Showtime, home of drug-dealing moms and sympathetic serial killers. First imagined by Steven Spielberg, created by Diablo Cody, and brought to life by a cast led by Toni Collette and John Corbett, the show centers on a suburban housewife named Tara who is living with Dissociative Identity Disorder, which causes alternate personalities to emerge when she's under stress. The show premieres on Sunday, and today, the cast and producers stopped by TCA. Here are some of the essential things to know — and be sure to check out some great pics of the stars over on Pop:

1. It was important for Tara to be open about her condition. Cody said she's seen mental illness be destigmatized over the years, so it made sense for Tara's family not to keep her illness locked away. "Obviously there are some people who are frightened or curious," she said. "There are some people who are intrigued" — and that seemed like an appropriate, modern reaction.
2. Deep down, the show's about acceptance. Nobody ever says outright that Collette's character is mentally ill, or that Tara's son is gay, or that her daughter is a jerk, said Brie Larson, who plays teenage daughter Kate. "There's no labels on this show, and I think that's the most interesting part."
3. But not everyone's OK with Tara's personalities. One of the most tense relationships on the show is between Tara and her younger sister, Charmaine (Rosemarie DeWitt). "Charmaine always thought that Tara got more attention," Cody said. "She's always been resentful of that." Charmaine has an occasional flirtation with Max (Corbett), Tara's husband, but Cody said it's nothing with an actual romantic spark at this point — it's just a way for her to get someone to pay attention to her for once.

To see the final two essentials, just read more

You'd think that launching a new TV show — Showtime's United States of Tara — would be enough to keep Diablo Cody busy these days. But at the TCA press tour this morning, the Oscar-winning writer had something else on her mind: her upcoming guest spot on 90210.

"I don't know if they want me talking about it — I'm sure they're deeply ashamed, but I'm very excited," she said. "I've written about 90210 in Entertainment Weekly several times because I'm completely obsessed with the show, both incarnations old and new. They actually called and said, 'Would you like to be on 90210?' And I said,' I don't care if you want me to wear a bear suit, I'll do anything on 90210.'"

So, will she be wearing a bear suit for the spot, which she's filming at the end of the month? Cody said she didn't know — but a reporter told Cody she'd heard she'd be playing herself and working with Tori Spelling in an episode directed by Jason Priestly.

"They have not told me this!" she exclaimed. "Oh, I swear to God, I have to go outside. I did not know that. I love Jason Priestly, I love Tori Spelling. I'm so psyched!"

Photo courtesy of Showtime