SCOTT GARFIELD / ABC
Lee Pace in ABC's "Pushing Daisies." A young man with a special gift -- he can revive dead things with a touch -- brings his old sweetheart back to life but can never touch her again.
'Live From TV Land' Chat: From Jane Austen to 'Weeds'
TV critics Ellen Gray (Daily News) and Jonathan Storm (Inquirer) discuss what they've found out at Television Critics Association's summer meetings in Beverly Hills.
Jonathan Storm: Hello, everybody, and welcome to a breakthrough event. The Daily News and The Inquirer working together to bring you all the dish from the Television Critics Press Tour. Ellen and I are sitting right across from each other, loaded with info. Last night, we were just loaded. (Just kidding. But HBO did throw a nice party at The W hotel, too hip to have anything more than a letter for its name. They had a ring of fire in the swimming pool.
Ellen Gray: If you really need to imagine what this looks like, it looks like a game of Battleship, since we're facing each other over our laptops.
Michael: What's the most promising show you've heard about so far? And will PBS do any reality TV?
Peter: B-7!
Jonathan Storm: Miss!
Ellen Gray: If we're talking promising as in show-I-might-actually-watch-if-it-weren't-my-job, that would be ABC's Pushing Daisies, which has a weird Lemony Snicket quality that really appeals to me. But if we're talking promising as in might-not-be-canceled-in-Week 3, I'm not sure I even have a clue.
Jonathan Storm: I think that's the early favorite among the critics. Guy touches things and brings them back to life. I think the executives are hoping to keep him around to touch all their shows that go in the tank.
Ellen Gray: But the problem there is that if he doesn't touch them again in 60 seconds (killing them all over), something nearby dies. And I'm terrified it might be Friday Night Lights.
Jonathan Storm: I am afraid Friday Night Lights is headed for the dark. I hope at least that NBC runs in through next season. After all, they have nothing else to put on Friday nights.
SaveDeadwood: Ellen, thanks for asking about Deadwood at the TCA. Did the HBO execs seem truly surprised to be asked? Did they seem defensive, annoyed, or clueless...? Thanks again...
Jonathan Storm: I thought they seemed annoyed. It was sort of like "We don't really have time to worry about this right now."
Ellen Gray: I'm not the one who asked -- as expected, there were a bunch of questions, and while I know the efficient folks at SaveDeadwood.net think we wouldn't have asked without prompting, I think they're misreading this group. We've beaten far deader horses than this one -- repeatedly. But as to your question -- more clueless than defensive, I think.
Jonathan Storm: And we're always happy to beat horses for our readers. Or network executives.
Ellen Gray: I suspect the guy that people should be targeting now is David Milch -- who's also the guy most responsible, I suspect, for the foreshortened run of the show.
Jonathan Storm: He may be too busy surfing with his new show, the weird John From Cincinnati. I'm not real confident about any more Deadwood stuff, given that the HBO suits were all bragging how well John is doing. (It really isn't, but they want to keep up appearances.)
Ellen Gray: I could be wrong, but I would think that John is also far cheaper to make. They built an entire town for Deadwood, out on an old movie ranch, and the cast was huge (and heavily costumed), so that Milch's penchant for, um, not always making deadline could've been more costly. Surfers don't really wear as much.
Jeff: Please tell me whatever you can about what's happening with that reality show - It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia?
Jonathan Storm: If you think it's a reality show, I'm glad I don't have your life. But Sunny will be back in September on FX.
Ellen Gray: And Danny DeVito's back for the entire run, I understand. Which suggests he's having fun.
Jonathan Storm: Yep. Lots of lemocello at the craft service table, I heard.
Ellen (a different one): So what's this about Jane Austen and Masterpiece Theater? And I also hear talk of a Cartalk cartoon.
Ellen Gray: I am all about Jane, but am also sort of an Austen purist, so I wasn't as thrilled as some people to hear Andrew Davies talking about all the ways he's improved on dear Jane (who was famous for never writing a scene that didn't include a woman) by beefing up the men's roles. (But yes, he's the guy who sent Mr. Darcy for that famous swim that made Colin Firth such a sex symbol.) On the other hand, David Morrissey's coming on as Col. Brandon in a remake of Sense and Sensibility. And I just might swoon.
Jonathan Storm: All the gals swoon over Jane Austen. But it is interesting that PBS and Masterpiece Theatre are back to embracing the time-tested British model that viewers seem to like?
Ellen Gray: For all its we're-above-ratings attitude, the fund-raising priorities at PBS mean it's probably more responsive to at least a certain segment of its audience than most networks.
TJ: What are your thoughts on Rescue Me? Any tips for the remainder of the season? And while we are on FX shows, got any tips on the next season of Nip/Tuck?
Jonathan Storm: The Nip/Tucks were here yesterday, with creator Ryan Murphy bragging that he had the sexiest show on TV and Julian McMahon (who plays Christian) saying he likes to do everything naked and that he hopes to have lots more weird sex scenes this summer and fall. The ethereal Joely Richardson (Julia) was not impressed.
Ellen Gray: At this point, I think I'm only watching Rescue Me for professional reasons. I've been over Denis Leary for some time, but the air quotes over "rape" in Episode 4 kind of cemented it for me. Must be nice to be able to write yourself a character who's a total chick magnet.
Dude1021: Hi, wazup with Weeds? Is it coming back? Sooon, I hope.
Jonathan Storm: Looking to score a little somethin, Dude?
Ellen Gray: Weeds is back on Aug. 13 at 10 p.m., Dude. We haven't gotten to Showtime's part of the tour yet, but I'm having more trouble than ever feeling sympathy for Mary-Louise Parker's character.
Jonathan Storm: I love Weeds. My favorite comedy. Showtime is here Saturday with just about the whole cast of Weeds. They are very proud of their show. And I just adore Mary-Louise. She is *so* cute. Nor can I believe that Kevin Nealon is actually funny.
Greg House: Any word on what's happening with the cast of House?
Jonathan Storm: My thoughts are so important, the computer makes me say them twice.
Ellen Gray: No official word, but what I hear (and I should probably credit TV Guide or someone else for this) is that everyone's back, though House may also have new acolytes.
Jonathan Storm: I am the TV critic who doesn't like House, so I don't care.
Dude1021: Yup, I'd like to score about an episode of Weeds every night. A really funny and witty show.
Ellen Gray: In other words, you're a male TV critic who doesn't have a crush on Hugh Laurie.
Jonathan Storm: He's so rude, not Hugh, but House. And I find the show ultra-predictable.
Mellissa: After sitting through the HBO session, do you think it's worth keeping my HBO subscription? Do they have anything good coming up?
Ellen Gray: I guess that's why we're out here -- to find out the answers to questions like that. I happen to be very interested in HBO's Tell Me You Love Me (a.k.a. "the pornography show"), but your mileage may vary. Tell me what you've liked on HBO in the past, and I'll try to tell you what's coming up that you might like, too. Or not.
Jonathan Storm: The pornography show sucks IMHO, and that's not meant to be a pun. It is rife with sex scenes that are supposed to examine intimacy issues. I'm pretty open-minded, so I guess I can tolerate the scenes, but the situations and characters made me cringe.
Ellen Gray: I should add that I'm pretty sure it's a chick show.
Jonathan Storm: Do chicks like sex scenes? I thought they were mostly for guys. I'm so old-fashioned. HBO also has a moving documentary featuring interviews with injured Iraq vets, and a wonderful adaptation of As You Like It from Kenneth Branagh. And Larry David, who called me "schmucko" yesterday will be back in Curb Your Enthusiasm. That's my favorite comedy, too.
Stan: Do you think CBS was encouraged by the numbers for the return of Jericho this week?
Ellen Gray: The 4.6 million viewers was a pretty good number this summer for a rerun -- Desperate Housewives hasn't been attracting that many, believe it or not. It won its time slot last week, so I'm sure CBS will be looking closely at tonight's numbers (yes, that's a hint, you lucky people wth Nielsen boxes) to see if it was a one-off.
Jonathan Storm: I think the peanut farmers were encouraged, too. I heard CBS was going to throw a peanut party next week and distribute the 17 tons shipped by rabid Jericho fans to us critics. Time for us to shuffle off, I'm afraid. The folks from Spike TV are awaiting. Thanks for tuning in to our chat.
Ellen Gray: We're both kind of stunned to see that there were more people here than we could get to this morning. So if we didn't answer your question, it's not because we're not enormously flattered you stopped by. And if you'd like to post your questions (and any others) to one or both of our blogs -- the links are at philly.com -- we'll do our best to come up with replies.
Jonathan Storm: And we'll probably have more of these chat sessions in the next two weeks. Goodbye for now, Ellen, and aren't you happy I didn't call you an ignorant slut?
Ellen Gray: Actually, I was sort of disappointed...but maybe another time.
Ellen Gray: If you really need to imagine what this looks like, it looks like a game of Battleship, since we're facing each other over our laptops.
Michael: What's the most promising show you've heard about so far? And will PBS do any reality TV?
Peter: B-7!
Jonathan Storm: Miss!
Ellen Gray: If we're talking promising as in show-I-might-actually-watch-if-it-weren't-my-job, that would be ABC's Pushing Daisies, which has a weird Lemony Snicket quality that really appeals to me. But if we're talking promising as in might-not-be-canceled-in-Week 3, I'm not sure I even have a clue.
Jonathan Storm: I think that's the early favorite among the critics. Guy touches things and brings them back to life. I think the executives are hoping to keep him around to touch all their shows that go in the tank.
Ellen Gray: But the problem there is that if he doesn't touch them again in 60 seconds (killing them all over), something nearby dies. And I'm terrified it might be Friday Night Lights.
Jonathan Storm: I am afraid Friday Night Lights is headed for the dark. I hope at least that NBC runs in through next season. After all, they have nothing else to put on Friday nights.
SaveDeadwood: Ellen, thanks for asking about Deadwood at the TCA. Did the HBO execs seem truly surprised to be asked? Did they seem defensive, annoyed, or clueless...? Thanks again...
Jonathan Storm: I thought they seemed annoyed. It was sort of like "We don't really have time to worry about this right now."
Ellen Gray: I'm not the one who asked -- as expected, there were a bunch of questions, and while I know the efficient folks at SaveDeadwood.net think we wouldn't have asked without prompting, I think they're misreading this group. We've beaten far deader horses than this one -- repeatedly. But as to your question -- more clueless than defensive, I think.
Jonathan Storm: And we're always happy to beat horses for our readers. Or network executives.
Ellen Gray: I suspect the guy that people should be targeting now is David Milch -- who's also the guy most responsible, I suspect, for the foreshortened run of the show.
Jonathan Storm: He may be too busy surfing with his new show, the weird John From Cincinnati. I'm not real confident about any more Deadwood stuff, given that the HBO suits were all bragging how well John is doing. (It really isn't, but they want to keep up appearances.)
Ellen Gray: I could be wrong, but I would think that John is also far cheaper to make. They built an entire town for Deadwood, out on an old movie ranch, and the cast was huge (and heavily costumed), so that Milch's penchant for, um, not always making deadline could've been more costly. Surfers don't really wear as much.
Jeff: Please tell me whatever you can about what's happening with that reality show - It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia?
Jonathan Storm: If you think it's a reality show, I'm glad I don't have your life. But Sunny will be back in September on FX.
Ellen Gray: And Danny DeVito's back for the entire run, I understand. Which suggests he's having fun.
Jonathan Storm: Yep. Lots of lemocello at the craft service table, I heard.
Ellen (a different one): So what's this about Jane Austen and Masterpiece Theater? And I also hear talk of a Cartalk cartoon.
Ellen Gray: I am all about Jane, but am also sort of an Austen purist, so I wasn't as thrilled as some people to hear Andrew Davies talking about all the ways he's improved on dear Jane (who was famous for never writing a scene that didn't include a woman) by beefing up the men's roles. (But yes, he's the guy who sent Mr. Darcy for that famous swim that made Colin Firth such a sex symbol.) On the other hand, David Morrissey's coming on as Col. Brandon in a remake of Sense and Sensibility. And I just might swoon.
Jonathan Storm: All the gals swoon over Jane Austen. But it is interesting that PBS and Masterpiece Theatre are back to embracing the time-tested British model that viewers seem to like?
Ellen Gray: For all its we're-above-ratings attitude, the fund-raising priorities at PBS mean it's probably more responsive to at least a certain segment of its audience than most networks.
TJ: What are your thoughts on Rescue Me? Any tips for the remainder of the season? And while we are on FX shows, got any tips on the next season of Nip/Tuck?
Jonathan Storm: The Nip/Tucks were here yesterday, with creator Ryan Murphy bragging that he had the sexiest show on TV and Julian McMahon (who plays Christian) saying he likes to do everything naked and that he hopes to have lots more weird sex scenes this summer and fall. The ethereal Joely Richardson (Julia) was not impressed.
Ellen Gray: At this point, I think I'm only watching Rescue Me for professional reasons. I've been over Denis Leary for some time, but the air quotes over "rape" in Episode 4 kind of cemented it for me. Must be nice to be able to write yourself a character who's a total chick magnet.
Dude1021: Hi, wazup with Weeds? Is it coming back? Sooon, I hope.
Jonathan Storm: Looking to score a little somethin, Dude?
Ellen Gray: Weeds is back on Aug. 13 at 10 p.m., Dude. We haven't gotten to Showtime's part of the tour yet, but I'm having more trouble than ever feeling sympathy for Mary-Louise Parker's character.
Jonathan Storm: I love Weeds. My favorite comedy. Showtime is here Saturday with just about the whole cast of Weeds. They are very proud of their show. And I just adore Mary-Louise. She is *so* cute. Nor can I believe that Kevin Nealon is actually funny.
Greg House: Any word on what's happening with the cast of House?
Jonathan Storm: My thoughts are so important, the computer makes me say them twice.
Ellen Gray: No official word, but what I hear (and I should probably credit TV Guide or someone else for this) is that everyone's back, though House may also have new acolytes.
Jonathan Storm: I am the TV critic who doesn't like House, so I don't care.
Dude1021: Yup, I'd like to score about an episode of Weeds every night. A really funny and witty show.
Ellen Gray: In other words, you're a male TV critic who doesn't have a crush on Hugh Laurie.
Jonathan Storm: He's so rude, not Hugh, but House. And I find the show ultra-predictable.
Mellissa: After sitting through the HBO session, do you think it's worth keeping my HBO subscription? Do they have anything good coming up?
Ellen Gray: I guess that's why we're out here -- to find out the answers to questions like that. I happen to be very interested in HBO's Tell Me You Love Me (a.k.a. "the pornography show"), but your mileage may vary. Tell me what you've liked on HBO in the past, and I'll try to tell you what's coming up that you might like, too. Or not.
Jonathan Storm: The pornography show sucks IMHO, and that's not meant to be a pun. It is rife with sex scenes that are supposed to examine intimacy issues. I'm pretty open-minded, so I guess I can tolerate the scenes, but the situations and characters made me cringe.
Ellen Gray: I should add that I'm pretty sure it's a chick show.
Jonathan Storm: Do chicks like sex scenes? I thought they were mostly for guys. I'm so old-fashioned. HBO also has a moving documentary featuring interviews with injured Iraq vets, and a wonderful adaptation of As You Like It from Kenneth Branagh. And Larry David, who called me "schmucko" yesterday will be back in Curb Your Enthusiasm. That's my favorite comedy, too.
Stan: Do you think CBS was encouraged by the numbers for the return of Jericho this week?
Ellen Gray: The 4.6 million viewers was a pretty good number this summer for a rerun -- Desperate Housewives hasn't been attracting that many, believe it or not. It won its time slot last week, so I'm sure CBS will be looking closely at tonight's numbers (yes, that's a hint, you lucky people wth Nielsen boxes) to see if it was a one-off.
Jonathan Storm: I think the peanut farmers were encouraged, too. I heard CBS was going to throw a peanut party next week and distribute the 17 tons shipped by rabid Jericho fans to us critics. Time for us to shuffle off, I'm afraid. The folks from Spike TV are awaiting. Thanks for tuning in to our chat.
Ellen Gray: We're both kind of stunned to see that there were more people here than we could get to this morning. So if we didn't answer your question, it's not because we're not enormously flattered you stopped by. And if you'd like to post your questions (and any others) to one or both of our blogs -- the links are at philly.com -- we'll do our best to come up with replies.
Jonathan Storm: And we'll probably have more of these chat sessions in the next two weeks. Goodbye for now, Ellen, and aren't you happy I didn't call you an ignorant slut?
Ellen Gray: Actually, I was sort of disappointed...but maybe another time.
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