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Aziz Ansari on Performing Public Service

BuzzSugar — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 06:30:00 -0800

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. Read on for highlights:

You were a part of the show really early. How did you first get involved?
When I got on board it was before they really had a concept or anything nailed down, and it was really like, "Do you want to do a show with Mike and Greg, a documentary-type show?" And I was like, "Yeah, that would be my dream job."

Were you a fan of The Office?
The Office is probably my favorite comedy on TV, and as soon as I heard they were doing another show, I was like, "Oh my God, I'd love to be a part of that." I met with them pretty early on and I told them that, flat-out . . . A month or so later, they're like, "Yeah, we want you to do it with us." They still didn't have anything as far as their concept, but I was super excited. Then after a few months I found out Amy was doing it, and then I was like, "Oh, that's great - it'll be awesome."

Since you were involved so early, did you get to be involved in creating your character?
They kind of wrote it toward my strengths and attitudes that they'd seen me play. Since they knew they were writing it for me, I know that helped a ton.

What is it that you like about the mockumentary style?
It's just a fun format to do comedy in. The interviews and stuff like that - it's a great format for improvising. Even in Human Giant, we would do sketches or profile pieces that were kind of like little mockumentaries, and it was just a really fun format for performers and people who like to improvise especially.

To find out the future for Ansari on Scrubs and Human Giant, just read more.

Since there wasn't a concept for the show yet, what made you ready to take that leap of faith?
There's very few people you'd do that with besides Greg and MIke, but if there are any two guys you're gonna trust with that kind of a job, it would be those two guys. It could have been anything. It could have been like, "Hey! You're a guy who works in a Slurpee shop and you have a thick Indian accent." But obviously those guys are awesome and you're going to make something great.

Have you created any kind of history or backstory for your character?
I've read what's in the script and I have some ideas - I've talked with Greg and Mike and the writers about different aspects of the guy's personality, and I kind of have in my head how I want to do him and what his attitudes are going to be like. I think I've definitely seen those type of guys, the kind of guys who are all about networking and weaseling their way to the top.

What does this mean for your future on Scrubs?
I couldn't do any more Scrubs after I got this cause obviously there's a conflict with ABC and NBC - you can't do both networks . . . I had a really good time doing that show. Bill [Lawrence] is awesome, I couldn't have had a better experience working with him. I did four or five episodes and it was really fun, but yeah, I couldn't keep doing it because I got this opportunity.

And what's the future of Human Giant?
We weren't able to do a third season in the time we had to put out a third season and [for me] to do this show, but MTV's been really cool about saying, "The door's open for you guys, if you want to do anything on the channel just let us know, you're always welcome."

Source and Source

Billie Piper Bares It All for Secret Diary of a Call Girl

BuzzSugar — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 07:30:34 -0800

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.

Juggling Hannah and Belle will always be a problem. Having a legit identity and a call girl identity will dog Piper's character throughout the series. The main story of the second season will be "Belle falling in love and can she manage to sustain a relationship? Can she juggle Belle and Hannah? Can Hannah get what she wants? Hannah wants a relationship. Or will Belle always take her away from that?" De Souza said. In the third season, which is about to start production in the UK, Belle will write a book about her experiences.
UK audiences reacted more prudishly to the show than US viewers. "Over here, it's been nothing but a joy really," Piper said. "And people have been really open-minded - which, you know, I wasn't surprised about because when you look at the lineup on Showtime and other stations over here, TV is really advanced in terms of ideas."

Showtime has made the second-season premiere of Call Girl available for streaming, so to check it out, just head over here.

Photo courtesy of Showtime

Rosemarie DeWitt on Being an In-Demand Screen Sister

BuzzSugar — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 06:00:49 -0800

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.

I'm assuming we'll be seeing more of those issues coming out throughout the season.
Yeah, and again, a lot of love. Annie and I would talk about Rachel and say, "They're sisters, they're not friends." But as Toni and I went through the season, we're discovering [Charmaine and Tara] are friends. I mean, they get on each other's nerves, and in ways they're nothing alike, but they can really be - they're kind of all that they had sometimes.

The show strikes a really delicate tone - it's not hilarious, for a comedy, but it's not heartbreaking all the time either. What about it appeals to you?
I am very impressed with the tone of it, because it could go a lot of different ways and I think they found a happy balance. The thing that kind of gets me about the show - besides Toni's performance as an actress, that gets me every day when I go to work - is seeing what we see through the children's eyes. Some people won't relate to this disorder, many people will, many people have someone with depression in their family. But it's just seeing that thing that kids have to go through where maybe they have to parent themselves or grow up before it's time. I think that's sort of the heartbeat of the show. With Juno as well, [Cody] can really find the truth of what kids are up against and then, in this case, also really write about marital problems and a woman in her 30s who can't find love, and write those with sophistication and grace.

Now, I have to ask about Rachel Getting Married, because I don't think I've ever seen a movie that just felt so much like a real wedding.
Oh, I felt like it might be legal in the state of Connecticut. You know, after he said our vows, I was like, "Does that mean . . . " I looked at Tunde [Adebimpe] and said, does that mean it's you and me? That's all [director] Jonathan Demme. He always says that we got to hang out and plan it, but we didn't - he just had all these crazy ideas. At one point he was like, "I think Rachel comes in on a white pony," but then he axes it, but then he comes in with some other fabulous element. We really just did it, that was the thing - we really just had a reception. Like, the rehearsal dinner scene, it was a 45-minute take, and we just did it three or four times.

That was something I was wondering - what the timing was like.
We went and lived in this house in Connecticut, and like, in the rehearsal dinner, Anne's speech was scripted, as were the best man and the maid of honor, but beyond that Jonathan just had anybody speak as they saw fit, and I'm sure there'll be some great toasts on the special features on the DVD, because everybody in that room spoke. And then he cut it down, and it was still really long and felt like you were really at a rehearsal dinner, in a good way.

Anne's character is such a strong personality. What was it like to play off of that?
It was sort of a wake-up call on the first day. We shot their first encounter in the movie and I felt like her character was taking all the oxygen out of the room. And I thought, "Wow, this is going to be a harder mountain to climb than I thought," just coming up against that sort of narcissistic personality. I think it's pretty classic addict behavior. In terms of the doing of it, Anne and I just had a really great experience on that. We didn't do a lot of sisterly bonding beforehand, I think because it was going to defuse the necessary tension. But then when we were working, there was never a nice-off. Nobody ever said, "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, did I just spit in your eye?" We just were horrible to each other when it called for it and loving to each other when it called for it and then gave each other a hug at the end and said, "See you tomorrow."

Photos Source and courtesy of Showtime and Sony Pictures Classics

Lie to Me's Brendan Hines on Always Telling the Truth

BuzzSugar — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 08:30:24 -0800

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.

Between shooting the show and meeting Dr. Paul Ekman [on whose work the show is based], have you learned a lot about the science of lying?
I've learned a pretty fair amount. I've read a lot of Paul's books. As soon as I knew we were getting started on the show, I bought all of them, and I just started to delve. But anytime I'm around Paul, I try not to talk to him about the science. I have a challenge that I've set for myself, basically, where I try to have the most benign, normal conversation with Paul and just make sure that he never calls me out on anything or goes, "bullsh*t."

Do you have a favorite trick you've learned for spotting other people lying?
Yes, but I'm a little worried that I'm imposing it on people when I'm not actually there. . . I'll be sitting back and watching two people talk and just be like "Aw, yeah, no way, you are so full of sh*t." Who knows if I'm actually seeing what I think I'm seeing or if I'm just imposing it on those conversations.

Your character has a very straightforward come-on to one of his colleagues in the first episode. Is there any chance the show will get into a romance between them?
Yes . . .

See, and I haven't watched enough of the show yet to be able to tell if you're lying!
I think the charm of the character that I get to play is that ultimately it's not about him trying to sleep with her - it's his way of saying hello. It's just basically, "Oh, I'd like to sleep with you" and not "Let's get on that right away, let's start to make that happen." It's like, "I just need you to know this, right up front." As far as the writers, they go where they want and I'll follow . . . It could happen. They're always hinting at it.

Photo courtesy of Fox

Peek Into the 5th Season of Lost, Thanks to Ajira Airways

Molly — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 05:30:00 -0800

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. The first two are good, don't get me wrong, but episode three had the whole room gasping. Full sections of my notes look a bit like, "OMG, this hurts my mind grapes." Needless to say, Lost fans should be super excited. All the promo photos emphasize the dual nature of this season - some will be in the outside world, as evidenced by the cityscape, and some will be back on the island.

While the cast of the show is still filming on location, executive producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof were there to tenderly step around reporters' questions without revealing too much of what's to come. The lunch panel was brought to us by Ajira Airways, though the exec producers were careful not to enlighten us with its meaning. If you want to see a few tidbits from the panel as well as a little of what to expect from the first three episodes just read more.

While Cuse and Lindelof admitted that this season deals with an awful lot of time travel, they said that Sawyer is shirtless for the entire first episode as consolation to those who are not fans. In fact, they referred to this as the "Season of Sawyer." Um, yay.
Daniel Dae Kim does have a contract to appear in episodes this season. Emilie de Ravin does not, but will return at some point before the series finale.
Early on in the season, expect to see some sudden deaths. That's all on that.
There was a lot of talk about Richard Alpert's possible over-application of eye makeup. According to Cuse and Lindelof, they had the same initial reaction but he is not wearing any eye liner, mascara, or eye makeup. Ha.
Overall, the producers were incredibly thankful that ABC execs let them set an end date to the series so they will be able to tell their full story.
On risky plotlines Lindelof said, "I think we’ve become fairly masochistic in our writing. You say fraught with peril like it’s a bad thing…[we say,] let’s do it. That’s what keeps the show exciting. The show has been a time travel show for the past four years…as season five unfolds it will be apparent that time travel has been in the DNA of that show.
We are going to learn a lot about the history of the island, including about that four-toed statue.
Don't worry about the recession affecting Lost - Cuse and Lindelof assured everyone that while they may look closer at their spending, don't expect the show to tone down on the stunts.

It's just a few hours away at this point. Get ready for time travel, mind blowing moments and, well, sexy shirtless Sawyer. Lucky us, who is excited?

Fox Tries to Rebuild Comedy Lineup With Four New Pilots

BuzzSugar — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 12:30:58 -0800

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

TCA Tidbits: Some Final Thoughts From Universal City

BuzzSugar — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 11:45:36 -0800

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." Really? Woman writer? That prompted a lot of raised eyebrows.
Most Honest Moment: Fox Entertainment President Kevin Reilly calling his former employer, NBC, "the crazy ex-wife I can't get away from."
Best Answer to a Question That Didn't Actually Answer a Question: Joss Whedon describing his original, scrapped pilot for Dollhouse as "Balinese shadow puppet theater."

To hear about the most awkward moment, the idea with the most potential, and one seriously awful mustache, just read more.

Greatest Untapped Potential: "I have this whole concept about a singles hotel that I think would be amazing." - Veronica Mars and Cupid creator Rob Thomas
Most Awkward Moment: The panel for NBC's miniseries The Last Templar probably would have just been boring, had Scott Foley and Mira Sorvino not told a story about swapping mucus during an on-screen kiss. Then . . . it was just gross.
Worst Mustache: Adam Goldberg's ridiculous '70s-style stache for The Unusuals. According to Goldberg, they worked a lot on determining the appropriate stache length so it doesn't verge "into porn territory or Old West," but, um, they need to keep working. It was enough to put Victory Garber's odd-looking little mustache out of my head.
Best Breakdown: Steve McPherson freaking out when asked about people leaving Grey's Anatomy. Unfortunately, I missed this for myself, but check out a transcript over here.
Most Endearing Moment: Joss Stone on trying not to speak her Tudors lines musically: "You can't talk with rhythm. That's rappin'!"

Source

TV Tonight: House, Now On Mondays

BuzzSugar — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 07:00:47 -0800

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.

A Veronica Mars Movie Could Be in the Works This Spring

BuzzSugar — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 05:45:28 -0800

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." But that doesn't get it onto screens: "Somebody else had to pay for it," he said. "[Executive producer] Joel Silver does have a certain pile of money that he can decide on and he called me asking if we - you know, can we do this now? So I know that Kristin [Bell] wants to do it. I want to do it. Joel wants to do it, and now I suddenly find myself with enough time to write that script."

As for what the project would entail, Thomas was pretty quiet about any plot details - but he did say the story wouldn't follow the Veronica-in-the-FBI path they'd explored for a possible season four. Instead, he said "it would open just days before her college graduation, so Veronica would be just at the end of her college career."

In addition to Kristen Bell, Thomas said, he's also talked to Jason Dohring and Enrico Colantoni about the film. A while back, the majority of you said you'd love to see a Veronica Mars movie, but are you still feeling that way almost two years after the end of the show?

Photo courtesy of The CW

TCA Tidbits: Ghost Sex, Lipstick Jungle, Pushing Daisies, More

BuzzSugar — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 14:30:11 -0800

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. He also said skeptical viewers should be patient and wait to see where the story is going: "I actually think that when you get to the end of the season and you see what [creator Shonda Rhimes] had in mind, it might not be your cup of tea, but I think you will be surprised at how insightful and smart the storyline itself is."
If you were hoping NBC's executives would give some clarity to the Lipstick Jungle cancellation situation, no such luck: According to entertainment president Angela Bromstad, no decision has been reached on the show's future, and it will be a conversation when the network sets its Fall schedule.
These were pretty much no-brainers, but NBC has renewed The Office, 30 Rock, and The Biggest Loser.
Count Portia de Rossi in for an Arrested Development movie: Despite calling her new character in ABC's Better Off Ted her all-time favorite, she'd be up for reprising Lindsay Bluth on the big screen. "I would love to do a movie for Arrested," she said - before adding to the confusion surrounding the project by saying "the cast are all on board." If that gets off the ground, she'd be a busy lady: She also wants to start a vegan shoe line.

For info on Heroes, Pushing Daisies, and NBC's late-night lineup, just read more.

NBC's aware that Heroes needs to change things up: "Tim [Kring] and I have talked to getting back to the core of the show, that it's these ordinary people with extraordinary powers, and that they may have taken on too much in terms of the storyline," Bromstad said.
McPherson was sadly noncommittal on the future of the unaired episodes of Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sexy Money, and Eli Stone. He said he's hopeful they'll get out somehow, but there would be lots of financial issues and rights issues to deal with first.
Jimmy Fallon snapped a picture of the TCA crowd with his iPhone and said he'd be bringing a decidedly geeky feel to his version of Late Night when he takes over in March.
Apparently, we needn't fear that moving to an earlier time slot will make Conan O'Brien tame: "I like to stand on things. I like to lick things. I jump around," he said - and none of that is going away. He also said he's hoping his band will make the move to LA with him. As for his Late Night farewell, he said he's aware that longtime fans will want certain things, but "what I don't want to do is a big salute to me."
Rachel Maddow, who was here to chat about her MSNBC talk show, on President Bush's post-presidency plans: "No international travel, probably, for the rest of his life."