2009 fox tca

In Lie to Me, the new Fox drama premiering tonight, Brendan Hines plays Eli, a researcher who always says anything that's on his mind. In the first couple of episodes, Hines's character often made me chuckle, so at Fox's all-star party at TCA, I caught up with him to ask about the show, his character, and whether he's now self-conscious about lying. Here are highlights:

Tell me about your character. He has this radical honesty thing going on.
I have it going on in spades. My character is brutally honest at all times. Not only does he tell a truth when he's asked a question, but he'll always just spit out what's on his mind no matter what. To me, that's fascinating. I love it when characters in TV or movies get put in incredibly awkward situations, and my character does — quite a bit — get put in those situations.

It seems like that would happen a lot if you were a person who just spit out whatever was on your mind.
It does, and I didn't even realize this until we started shooting the show, but I've known people like this for years. Maybe they haven't taken this sort of pledge where they're like, "Oh, I'm going to be honest at all times," but they are the kind of people who will just always tell you what's on their minds and not spare anybody's feelings at all. Problem with those people, you don't want to be around them all that much, so it's a difficult thing for the writers to try to do, which is to stay true to this pledge that the guy has taken, yet still make him likable and accessible.

Has playing him made you more honest in your own life?
No, but I will tell you that I am much more conscious of the lies that I tell. I do sort of stand back and assess whether or not I had to tell that lie, because most of the ones that you tell, they're harmless, or you think they are. As far as my character is concerned, he thinks any lie whatsoever is a no-no.

To hear whether Hines has become a good lie-spotter and whether he'll be involved in any on-screen romances, just read more

One of the major issues facing Fox's entertainment president, Kevin Reilly, at TCA last week was the sorry state of Fox's comedy development. Reilly himself noted that Fox had made a lot of year-end lists — er, those would be the worst lists — with Do Not Disturb, one of the first Fall shows to get axed, and the network has no live-action comedy on its schedule to start '09.

So it's interesting that today, Fox has given the green light to four new comedy pilots (among seven total), including one produced by Ben Stiller. A quick rundown of the comedies:

• The Station — A Ben Stiller-produced show about a covert CIA operative embedded somewhere in South America who is ordered to install a new dictator.
• Walorsky — Think Paul Blart: Mall Cop, the series. The show's about "a lazy ex-cop-turned-security guard patrolling a mall in Buffalo, NY, who is forced to grudgingly step it up after he is assigned an idiot partner."
• Two Dollar Beer — This one's set in Detroit and centers on a blue-collar couple and their family and friends.
• Sons of Tucson — In this comedy, three rich brothers hire a hustler to act like their father while their actual father serves out a prison term for a white-collar crime. It's supposed to be taking a Slums of Beverly Hills-esque tone.

At TCA, Reilly said the Fox comedies of the future should be "something that is a little bit bold and it's got a point of view," a la Malcolm in the Middle or Arrested Development. So, do you think any of the comedies in this list fit that bill?

Photos courtesy of Fox and Source

Monday night was already crowded on my DVR, but apparently it wasn't enough just to juggle Gossip Girl, How I Met Your Mother, Chuck, and Heroes — among others. Nope, tonight brings a new entry to the Monday night race, and it's a doozy: House.

On the bright side, the move to Mondays gets House out of the way of American Idol, which usually knocks it off the air for a while each Winter. But will fans follow?

If they do, it sounds like they have some meaty things awaiting in the second half of the season, including more of the budding potential romance between Foreman and Thirteen. "I'm wondering if part of [Foreman's] attraction to Thirteen is that his mother has Alzheimer's and there's nothing he can do about that," Omar Epps said last week at TCA. "He wants her to have what his mother doesn't." (Beyond any deep psychological explanations, there's another reason Epps enjoys that relationship: "It's great being in those scenes with Olivia [Wilde], because she's hot," he said.)

That relationship will continue growing on tonight's episode, which also finds Cuddy balancing the responsibilities of motherhood and work and House's team taking on a patient with chronic pain that resembles House's own symptoms. To watch a preview for January's episodes, just read more

Today CBS and Showtime are taking the stage at TCA, but before things get too busy, I wanted to wrap up some of the highlights from Fox's jam-packed Tuesday of panels (and parties). Here were some of the highs, lows, and most awkward moments:

• I think I already love Glee, Fox's upcoming hourlong comedy about a misfit glee club from Nip/Tuck creator Ryan Murphy — and, judging from the warm reception it got in the room during its presentation, I'm not alone. I caught an advanced screening of the show earlier this week, and it's a quirky mixture of snark and show tunes. It might not appeal to everyone, but if you like Freaks and Geeks and "Don't Stop Believing," it will be worth checking out when it premieres this Spring.
• Speaking of singing, things threatened to get a little tense at the afternoon American Idol panel, with lots of questions about Paula Abdul's future with the show. Luckily, attention shifted quickly to the new dynamic on the judging panel now that Kara DioGuardi is adding a second female voice. About having someone to help her take down Simon Cowell, Abdul said: "Kara finally sees what it's like for me, my own private hell." She later said of Simon, "He's the bully brother that sometimes we love each other, and sometimes I try to change seats. He's annoying sometimes. I have to reel him in."
• Interesting tidbit for Damages fans: FX President John Landgraf said that even though the Glenn Close drama doesn't meet the ratings standards set by previous FX hits, he's "confident" that Damages will be on the network's schedule even beyond the three seasons that have already been ordered.

To hear whether Dollhouse will bring the funny, what Mary Lynn Rajskub had to say about having fellow comedienne Janeane Garofalo on board for 24, and what's a surefire sign your relationship is about to end, just read more

When we first heard about the characters that would populate the new 90210 universe, Adrianna wasn't one of the names that popped up. But over the course of the past few months, she's gone from being a side character on the spinoff to one of the show's main focuses. She's already dealt with drugs, rehab, and pregnancy — not to mention getting kicked out of the school musical — and it sounds like there's more to come. At the 90210 Peach Pit party at TCA, I chatted with actress Jessica Lowndes about what Adrianna will be up to for the rest of the year. Here are highlights:

What's the story of how you got involved with 90210?
I was signed on as a guest star. I would have been lucky to have four episodes, is what I thought. I knew I was a singer in the school musical who might have a little addiction to pills and that would be it. . . They just kept writing for me and giving me such fun material to work with, and it was emotionally draining, but it was really rewarding. I learned a lot about myself as an actress, I was pushing boundaries, I was meeting incredible people — I was interviewing real addicts, because I didn't want to make a mockery of it, because I, Jessica, have no experience with drugs or being pregnant or any of it.

How did you find out what all was coming up for your character? Did you just see in the script, "Oh, now I'm going to OD, now I'm going to rehab"?
We usually get the script the day before. It's fast paced like that. I had to work my butt off. [I got one script] and I'm like, "Oh, gosh, OK, I die in this episode, hopefully I come back." And then I got the series regular contract the day after.

So probably not going to die anytime soon.
Yeah, probably not, unless I, like, come back to haunt people.

To hear about her favorite Adrianna moments and what's coming up with the baby story, just read more

Greetings from the TCA press tour! I'm coming to you live from the Universal Hilton, where Fox is presenting its Winter and Spring shows today. A few minutes ago, the network's entertainment president, Kevin Reilly, took the stage to make some announcements about the network's future plans. Here are some highlights:

• Prison Break is officially wrapping up this Spring after four seasons; its final batch of episodes (at least four, maybe a few more) will start Friday, April 17. "Prison Break has had a hell of a run and is just at the end of that run," Reilly said. "We'll put that one in the win column, but it just got down to the point where a lot of stories have been told."
• Is this good news for Dollhouse? Reilly said "we're going to let the show play out for 13 episodes."
• More on Dollhouse and the decision to put it on Friday: "Joss does a certain kind of show. I think he's right in the zone again on that. It's the kind of show that has a core passionate audience." If the show hadn't been put on Fridays, Reilly said, "there was going to be enormous pressure on it."

To see Reilly's thoughts about Fringe, the future of Fox comedy, and more, just read more