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2009 Winter TCA
Aziz Ansari on Performing Public Service
The non-spinoff spinoff of The Office finally has itself a possible title — Public Service — and a very funny pilot script that I got a chance to read back at the TCA press tour. It also has an up-and-coming costar in Aziz Ansari, who's been popping up everywhere from Flight of the Conchords to Scrubs to his MTV sketch show, Human Giant. He was the first person to join the series before writers Greg Daniels and Michael Schur even had a concept locked down, and at TCA, we chatted about the leap of faith it took him to join and about his character, a local government networker named Tom.
Billie Piper Bares It All for Secret Diary of a Call Girl
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.
Rosemarie DeWitt on Being an In-Demand Screen Sister
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.
Lie to Me's Brendan Hines on Always Telling the Truth
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.
Peek Into the 5th Season of Lost, Thanks to Ajira Airways
Note: I was the representative Lost fan at the show's panel in LA at TCA. Here's a bit of what to look forward to at the beginning of this season.
The fifth season of Lost kicks off tonight with the first two episodes and while we were down at the TCAs in LA last week, we got to see the third one as well.
Fox Tries to Rebuild Comedy Lineup With Four New Pilots
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.
TCA Tidbits: Some Final Thoughts From Universal City
The Winter TCA press tour is all over, and I'm back catching up on all the things I missed while I was camped out in Universal City. I got some great interviews and previews of some new TV shows that I'll be sharing soon, but for now, I wanted to wrap up some of the best, worst, and most awkward moments from my days in LA:
- Wittiest Line: Jimmy Fallon at the session for his new stint on Late Night, after being asked whether he'd still have time to do romantic comedies: "If you want to meet me at the Empire State Building after this, I'll tell you the truth."
- Best Comeback: Amy Poehler after being asked whether she often wakes up in the morning and thinks something along the lines of, "Tina Fey, I'll show her": "Yes. And then I turn around and I wake her up, and we have breakfast together."
- Oddest Wording: ABC Entertainment President Steve McPherson calling Shonda Rhimes "one of the most, if not the most talented woman writer out there right now."
TV Tonight: House, Now On Mondays
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.
A Veronica Mars Movie Could Be in the Works This Spring
The Arrested Development movie was a hot topic at this month's TCA press tour, but it wasn't the only TV-to-film adaptation on reporters' minds. When Rob Thomas turned up to talk about his forthcoming Cupid, he also entertained some questions about the future of Veronica Mars — and what he said was mostly good news for fans.
With Cupid's episode order cut from 13 to eight, Thomas said he now finds himself with "a couple months to write the Veronica Mars movie."
TCA Tidbits: Ghost Sex, Lipstick Jungle, Pushing Daisies, More
It's the last day of the TCA press tour, and ABC is presenting a ton of new midseason series today, including Nathan Fillion's Castle and Amber Tamblyn's The Unusuals. The news has been coming fast and furious, so here are some tidbits from this morning's ABC sessions and yesterday's NBC panels:
- Apparently, we should stop using the term "ghost sex" to describe Izzie and Denny's relationship on Grey's Anatomy, stat. "It's not a ghost, which you will learn," ABC entertainment president Steve McPherson said.
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