2010 Winter TCA

The TCAs rolled into day three yesterday, which brought some major developments from Fox. Simon Cowell made a surprise appearance during the executive panel to announce this season will be his last on American Idol. With his departure, Simon will bring the X Factor to the States, which he will judge and executive produce. Simon spoke about his love for AI, calling it the best eight years of his life and even hinting at bringing Paula onto X Factor when he revealed, "I adore Paula, whatever happens I will be working with her in some capacity. I miss her." Later in the day we got a look at the upcoming season of 24 from Kiefer Sutherland, Freddie Prinze Jr., and the rest of the cast, who are upping the action this year from NYC. Freddie said he was so excited to play his latest role saying, "I'm usually struggling to fall in love for 96 minutes, and I always get the girl."

After the panels the stars moved to Fox's All Star party. The cast of Glee were all in attendance and so excited to celebrate the news their show got picked up for a second season. Kevin McHale told us they were all on set together when they found out, and as far as his hopes for season two, he's excited for the songs and dances to get bigger and bigger. Lea Michele and Dianna Agron stuck close to each other all night long. When asked about filming The Romantics, Dianna revealed the cast was so much fun to work with and that she was especially excited when Katie Holmes revealed she's a big fan of Glee. Also fresh off a People's Choice Awards win, Olivia Wilde looked gorgeous as usual among the members of the House cast in attendance. There's still lots of fun to come from the TCAs so stay tuned for updates on Twitter.

More photos from day three of the Winter TCAs if you just read more

I had the pleasure of chatting with Mr. Joel McHale earlier this week at the NBC party during the Winter TCA. As expected, the funny man had plenty of quips to share about The Soup and Community, plus a few additional pearls of wisdom (?). Stay tuned for my interview with his costar Alison Brie later this week (which includes a lot more fun about Community), but for now I couldn't resist sharing a few of McHale's wacky and weird one-liners:

• On The Soup's audience: "Young people watch it on Saturdays, old people watch it on Fridays."
• On Community: "It is the time of my life. I look forward to going to work every day."
• Does he actually watch all the shows featured on The Soup: "How in the hell could I watch that much television?"
• Will Community get more guest stars besides Jack Black? "Yeah, sure, Ryan [Seacrest]'s coming on, Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan, Obama's gonna come on, it's gonna be great. Bilbo Baggins — the real living one is coming on — the cast of New Moon . . . I know you ladies love the gawky vampires."
• How much longer will he pull double duty? "I don't know. I have another year left in my contract. I don't know what the future holds as far as that's concerned. I love doing it, they're all my friends and I love them. I'm having a great time doing it and that's my plan at this point, is to keep doing that. So we'll see.
• New Year's resolution? "To quit smoking. I don't smoke, but my resolution is to remain smokeless. My skin is like teriyaki beef jerky."

The Winter TCA is chugging right along, bringing this morning's exciting news about Glee's renewed second season. Before that, though, I had the opportunity to learn a bit more about the CW's Spring programming with panels on The Vampire Diaries (get a sneak peek at upcoming episodes here) and Life Unexpected. Here's more:

• The cast and showrunners of The Vampire Diaries were all smiles on the panel and seemed to have a close-knit relationship. In fact, Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley repeatedly mentioned how close they are, even dressing alike and hanging out together after work — love that.
• As far as plot goes: Vicki isn't coming back, though her death will continue to have an effect on Jeremy and Matt. Matt's mother will be making an appearance in the upcoming seasons, along with Mia Kirshner, who will play Alaric's dead wife in his flashbacks. We'll also learn about his agenda in Mystic Falls.
• Alaric isn't the only one with plans. Creator Kevin Williamson revealed,"Damon has an agenda. He’s going to save Katherine. He’s going to do everything possible he can to get to her. And so, that tomb is still in play."
• Nina spoke a little about the love triangle heating up, saying, "Well, it’s not a love triangle with only two people. And now that the necklace is off, she’s very vulnerable. And in this next episode that we’re going to see, there are going to be a lot more of Damon and Elena." Williamson added, "One of the things that’s going to be really interesting in this upcoming episode is Damon and Elena sort of have some alone time. They have a little bit of an adventure where they’re sort of — you know, there’s no Stefan. There’s just the two of them." Hot!
• After the panel, Paul said there's been nothing specific in the script about werewolves just yet, though he thinks the idea is "fantastic." Kevin Williamson also said that though Elena is turned into a vampire pretty early on in the books, we won't see Nina Dobrev playing any bloodsucker besides Katherine anytime soon.

To read about what to expect from Life Unexpected, just read more

Just minutes ago at the Fox portion of the Winter TCA, Simon Cowell himself took the stage to confirm that the upcoming season of American Idol will be his last. As expected, Cowell's focus will be shifted to launching the American version of X Factor, which is slated to premiere on Fox in 2011. Cowell even signed his new contract on the stage for all of the press to see.

Though he considered hosting both shows, he said "the practicalities" are impossible. Cowell also said that judging Idol has been the best eight years of his life and that all Idol needs to succeed without him is to "find someone who knows what they're talking about." Cowell also added he would love to leave the show "bigger and better than it's been before."

Before Simon ducked out of the Q and A to get back to his duties on Idol, he answered one last question about Paula Abdul, saying, "I adore Paula, whatever happens I will be working with her in some capacity. I miss her."

Photo courtesy of Fox

The TCAs kicked off this weekend in Pasadena with everyone buzzing about Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien's future at NBC. Before that news, on Saturday Peter Facinelli chatted about Nurse Jackie, Twilight, and Twitter. We also got to know the adorable new cast of Life Unexpected, followed by the hot Vampire Diaries — check out a sneak peek of what to expect next. The cast couldn't stop gushing about how much they love working together, and Nina Dobrev was even celebrating a very special 21st birthday. When asked about the rumors that we will see werewolves in the upcoming season, Paul Wesley told us he doesn't know but thinks it would be a fantastic idea.

On Sunday it was all about NBC — the Parks and Recs cast had the whole room laughing, joking about everything from Twitter to the show's critical turnaround in season two, and when asked about a possible crossover with 30 Rock, Amy said, "Well I want to do something with Lost, but they're not NBC." Jerry Seinfeld also took the stage to introduce his new show The Marriage Ref, which follows ordinary couples who need help solving arguments and already has celebrity guest lineups including Alec Baldwin, Tina Fey, and Eva Longoria. Of course Jerry couldn't get away without questions on Jay and Conan, to which he said, "I hope Conan stays on NBC, I think he's terrific." We also finally got a chance to check out Ron Howard's Parenthood, which looks great despite cast changes and drama.

At night the stars from NBC hit the red carpet to celebrate the network. Amy Poehler, Michelle Trachtenberg, and Rashida Jones looked beautiful in black, while Community and Mad Men star Alison Brie added a little pink to her red carpet look. We spoke with Alison, who was excited to talk about Jack Black's appearance this Thursday's episode and what she hopes we see from Trudie in Mad Men's next season — more on that later from Buzz. The casts from The Office, Heroes, and Chuck also mingled with each other over cocktails. There's lots more to come, so stay tuned for updates on Twitter.

More photos from the TCAs, so read more

This morning at the Winter TCA, I was greeted with a very exciting press release from Fox. As if there was any doubt, the network's juggernaut Glee has been secured for a second season (not to be confused with the second half of the first season, which will air in April). Fox President Kevin Reilly said, "We've loved Glee ever since it was a pilot script, so it's been an incredible thrill to watch the show take root and see audiences embrace these characters in such a huge way this season. The show is a true and rare gem in television. We couldn't be more proud of what Ryan Murphy and the Glee team have created so far, and can't wait to see what they come up with for Season Two."

What's even more exciting is that Fox will begin a nationwide search for new members of the glee club starting this February (which means if you're one of the many American Idol hopefuls out there, maybe it's time to switch gears). The new cast members will be introduced in the season premiere next Fall.

I couldn't be happier that my favorite new comedy (and yours!) already has a secure spot in Fall's lineup next year, and I'm even more psyched about new characters — as much as I love Rachel, Finn, and the gang, the show could definitely use some fresh meat.

Photo courtesy of Fox

The 2010 Winter TCA is in full swing in Pasadena, CA, and now that I've brought you some highlights from Peter Facinelli and an update on the NBC shakeup, let's talk about what else has been going down for CBS and Showtime.

• As far as programming is concerned, CBS has confirmed the cancellation of Three Rivers, and we got sneak peeks at two new shows: Miami Medical and Undercover Boss.Miami Medical looks a bit like a knockoff of Grey's Anatomy, except we're at a trauma hospital instead of a surgical wing, and most of the patients are in the midst of a sunny vacation gone awry.
• At the Showtime panel, I got my first taste of Laura Linney in The Big C. I was happy to see that the promo had me intrigued, and there seem to be even more laughs than heartbreaking moments (though, given the subject matter, I'm sure that will change a bit). Bonus: even just a few seconds of Gabourey Sidibe outside of her Precious role was enough to make me giddy.
• With The Tudors on the way out, the Showtime execs also announced a new period drama called The Borgias. Starring Jeremy Irons, the show will chronicle the infamous family during the Italian Renaissance. It will be added to Showtime's lineup Spring 2011.

For more about Nurse Jackie and United States of Tara, just read more

In what was easily the most anticipated panel of this year's Winter TCA, NBC Chairman Jeff Gaspin confirmed this morning that The Jay Leno Show will no longer air at 10 p.m. starting on Feb. 12. NBC has presented a new late night deal to Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien, and Jimmy Fallon that would reshuffle their respective late-night shows. Gaspin wouldn't say which of the hosts are definitely on board, but if all goes according to plan, The Jay Leno Show will move to 11:35, pushing The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien to 12:05 and Late Night With Jimmy Fallon to 1:05. Here are more details:

• The decision to move The Jay Leno Show was made to appease NBC's affiliates, who were unhappy with the show's impact. As for why audiences weren't tuning to watch Leno, Gaspin said: "I don't think that people didn't watch The Jay Leno Show because of the show's quality. I think there were so many other choices [at 10 o'clock] that people thought were better. There's just so much intense competition at 10 o'clock, that something that's easy to watch and easily joinable is not people's first or second choice at 10 o'clock.
• Leno, O'Brien, and Fallon have the weekend to give some thought to the new plan, and talks will resume tomorrow. As for their reactions, Gaspin said, "Both Jay and Conan and Jimmy were incredibly gracious and professional. They all said they understood the difficult situation that I was in."
• It has yet to be determined what will fill the empty spot at 10 p.m. Gaspin said he's waiting until the last possible second to figure out the programming, but there is the possibility that Rex Is Not Your Lawyer will be ready for the Spring.
• Along with JJ Abrams's Undercovers, NBC has already picked up new specs, including government conspiracy thriller The Event, a new law show from David Kelley called Kindred, hour-long romantic comedy Love Bites, and a remake of the '70s series Rockford Files.
• Carson Daly will continue to stay on the NBC network regardless of the ultimate outcome with the late-night lineup.

Stay tuned for lots more updates!

Pop and I are down in Pasadena for our annual pilgrimage to the Winter TCA! Our first day has been a blast so far, with CBS, Showtime, and The CW opening up the ceremonies. Stay tuned over the next week for lots of updates on your favorite shows and stars, but for now we're bringing you some highlights from the Nurse Jackie panel, courtesy of Peter Facinelli. Facinelli may play Dr. Cooper on the small screen, but he seemed equally interested in talking about his big screen medical role, as Dr. Carlisle Cullen in Twilight, not to mention his love for Twitter (even saying that he'll ask Robert Pattinson to sign up for Twitter!) Here are some other highlights:

• On taking part in both projects: I've had a very crazy schedule. There was a whole month when I was shooting Eclipse and Nurse Jackie at the same time, but it's invigorating. As soon as I get on set I have so much energy. It was really fun for me to do such contrasting roles because Carlisle is such a calming force and such a rock and foundation for this family, and Coop is none of that — he runs around like he's had four cans of Red Bull.
• On making Eclipse: What I love about the third movie is that you get to see a side of Carlisle you haven't seen before, and what his vampire capabilities really are. There are some really great battle sequences. It's my favorite book.
• On the difference between Coop's Twitter account and his own: "He doesn't have nearly as many people following him [as I do].

To see lots more on what Facinelli had to say about Breaking Dawn and Carlisle, just read more