TCA flashback: The five weirdest things I witnessed during the TV Critics press tour

I'm still driving back to the Sunshine State from Chicago as I write this, so I'm a little short on new material. instead, let me present you with a flashback to my time at the TV Critic's press tour in Los Angeles a couple of weeks ago:

Five most oddball things I witnessed during the TV critics press tour:

1) Rapper Coolio swearing to me that one of the ladies from Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Atlanta was “on his jock.” Whatever that means.

2) Damian Lewis, the British actor who stars in NBC’s Life, speaking almost exclusively in his character’s American accent because “speaking to Americans, my British accent sounds fake.”

3) Howie Mandel, the host of NBC’s Deal or No Deal and a renowned germophobe, insisting on simply bumping fists when meeting journalists.

4) Jay Leno, disguised in a bald cap and fake moustache, taking the microphone to grill NBC executives during a press session.

5) Hearing Wipeout host John Henson joke about hitting on co-host Jill Wagner so much, you wondered if he was really joking.

Lessons learned from the TV Critics press tour

The Lambourghinis and Mercedes have rolled away. The paparazzi have moved on to the hip new restaurants and rehab facilities. And Teri Hatcher has been packed back into her cryogenic stasis chamber.

Yes, the TV Critics Association’s summer press tour has completed another wild, informative run.

And while the blizzard of celebrity-fueled press conferences, network TV parties and soundstage set visits has come to an end, this critic rolled away from the Beverly Hilton Hotel after eight days on Tuesday with a few important lessons learned about the state of the TV business heading into the dog days of 2008.

Lesson #1: The writer’s strike fallout continues – Even though the walkout by the nation’s film and TV writers in ended in February, it continues to screw up the television industry by limiting the amount of new shows any network could cobble together for this fall.

The broadcast networks problems emerged during press tour, as every outlet struggled to articulate the plotlines and story arcs for new series put into production without filming an initial “pilot” episode – leaving executives (and critics) with little evidence whether these lofty ideas might actually produce watchable shows.

Lesson #2: Without new shows, old shows face more pressure – Several series have promised big changes in trying to “reboot” returning shows which need to regain audience’s attention after months in reruns or worse. ABC’s Desperate Housewives is moving five years into the future, while NBC’s Heroes is focusing on a new cadre of villains and even Fox’s blockbuster American Idol is promising major changes.

“We’re all in this elevator – CSI, Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives – and the elevator’s going down,” said Housewives creator and executive producer Mark Cherry. “As a result, we’re willing to do anything to keep our audience base…There’s intense pressure to come up with something that gets everyone’s attention.

Lesson #3: TV has pretty much accepted its lack of diversity – Time and again, the question emerged – Why are there no new shows starring a person of color this year? – and the answer was mostly a shrug with promises to do better. In a down economy, networks are more willing to hand new shows to British and Australian actors than anyone with a skin tone darker than a light tan.

First look: Promo for Tampa native JoAnna Garcia's new CW show, Privileged

Critics haven't yet seen a pilot episode from Tampa native JoAnna Garcia's new CW show about a Yale graduate roped into serving as tutor/keeper for a pair of rambunctious Paris Hiltons in the making, Privileged.

But the CW released a bunch of material from their new show on YouTube recently, including a promotional trailer for the program, set in Palm Beach. Check it out and judge for yourself whether the former Reba co-star has landed in a program worth her time and talent.

How to translate the total BS of Hollywood

After eight days, dozens of chicken dinners and countless conversations with airheaded celebrities, I'm winging my way east as the TV critics summer press tour winds to an end.

I'm actually stopping in Chicago for a week to check out the UNITY convention uniting journalism organizations representing black, Hispanic, Asian American and Native American people. But before I step on the plane, I can't help reflecting on the worst element of this particular cavalcade of star interviews, press conferences and hip-ified parties.

The total BS that comes out of everyone's mouth. Constantly.

Few people say what they really mean at a press conference for 200 journalists blogging in real time -- thank you Drew Carey and Dick Smothers! -- so you often have to decode what people are really saying out here.

Here's a little guide to dissecting all those innocuous quotes in press tour stories on my blog and elsewhere.

Actor says: "What drew me to this project was the script."

Actor means: "What drew me to this project was the paycheck. And the fact that I only have to work about three days a week."

Actor says: "This is just the happiest set I've ever worked on. We all really love each other."

Actor means: "We just started working together, so we're on our best behavior. Just wait until we win a couple of Emmys and I start up my crystal meth habit."

Producer says: "(He/She) walked in, and we knew right way this was the person for the role."

Producer means: "All the other really good actors emigrating from England were taken."

Producer says: "We just cast the best people for the role, and wound up with an all-white cast."

Producer means: "We just cast the best people we thought other white people might want to watch. And the just happened to be white!"

Network executive says: We love (insert name of troubled performer here), and can't wait to work with them again.

Network executive means: "It will be a cold day in the hell that is my existence when I ever return this egomaniac's telephone calls. Unless, of course, they land another hit movie."

Network executive says: "We love you critics; we wouldn't have successful shows without you."

Network executive means: "Our technology division is working out a Microsoft program which will write out a review 30 second after the episode airs. I'm betting you have about six months left in your job."

Jay Leno rips off Jimmy Kimmel

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- If, as the old joke goes, imitation is the sincerest form of television, then NBC emerged as the most sincere network around while addressing TV critics here on today.

Last week, ABC late night host Jimmy Kimmel posed as a reporter during a press conference to show he wasn’t estranged from the network as rumors swirled that NBC host Jay Leno might land there when his contract expires in December 2009.

So when a bearded, bald guy took the microphone during a press conference with NBC executives here at the TV Critics Association’s summer press tour, it didn’t take many questions before real reporters figured out what was going on.

“Do you think what Jimmy Kimmel did…was kind of cheesy, coming (here) in disguise?” asked Leno, drawing laughs. “I know Leno got an Emmy nomination for his website garage but not for the Tonight Show, do you think people liked him better as a mechanic than as a talk show host?...(And) is it true you offered him a fifth hour of Today?”

But the prank didn’t shake the perception that NBC has a serious late night problem brewing (especially since Leno didn’t stick around to take questions). NBC announced Monday that Leno’s last show is Friday, May 29, 2009, and Conan O’Brien will take over the 11:30 p.m. timeslot the following Monday, June 1.

Since Saturday Night Live veteran Jimmy Fallon will take O’Brien’s timeslot - debuting online this fall, six months early, in a special 12:30 p.m. Web cast - the open question left is, where does Leno land? Particularly since Leno’s ratings have risen recently as O’Brien’s ratings have fallen.

Critics say Leno's recent actions, joking about a possible move to ABC on his show and telling USA Today he was done with NBC last week, shows that the network has pretty much thrown their longtime late night host under the bus in search of the younger ratings expected from O'Brien and Fallon. Leno may be playing nice now, because he's still under contract for 18 months.

“The point for you guys to take away is that we have a great relationship with Jay Leno,” said Ben Silverman, NBC entertainment chief, noting that the network has been criticized in the past for losing David letterman, Bryant Gumbel, Katie Couric and Tom Brokaw, only to see each of their replacements excel.

“(Leno’s) really good at what he does and is going to want to continue doing what he does,” said Silverman, adding that Leno felt a USA Today story last week which quoted him saying “I am definitely done - with NBC,” took his quote out of context. “He’s focused on what he’s doing today.”

The tough question left for NBC: What if Leno wants to keep doing what he does today -- namely, host the Tonight Show?

NBC also confused critics by announcing that Saturday Night Live veteran Amy Poehler will star in a prime time series for NBC debuting in March, developed by the executive producers of the network’s comedy, The Office. But it won't be an Office spinoff.

Details on how this will all work, which NBC suits were reluctant to divulge because they don't want to snark off the Office producers, didn't make much sense -- especially since the network is also developing an Office spin-off. The actresses’ pregnancy – she’s expected to have her baby in October or November – complicated plans for the project, keeping NBC from airing the first episode after the Super Bowl, and resulting in Poehler staying on SNL until she has her baby.

Silverman said he hopes to develop a crew of producers and actors from the Office to fill other shows, much in the same way creator Lorne Michaels has developed a crew of actors to top film and TV projects from the SNL cast.

Drew Carey feeling left out at 'Price is Right'

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Don’t bother asking new Price is Right host Drew Carey about the recent firing of the show’s longtime executive producer Roger Dobkowitz after 36 years, or rumors that network executives are planning an extensive overhaul of the program’s look.

Because, according to Carey, he’s just about the last person to know anything that happens on the venerated CBS game show.

“I get totally left out of any discussions – I didn’t find out about Roger until the night before,” said Carey Friday at a party for TV critics here held by CBS.

“When you want to know about what happened on a show, how are they changing things, what are they going to do – I’m the last person they tell,” he added, sounding a little dejected; Carey thinks news of Dobkowitz firing circulated widely because it happened over July 4 weekend just before a long hiatus for the show when no one could comment. “I just show up and they push me onstage.”

CBS Entertainment head Nina Tassler denied the network planned any extensive changes beyond putting a “fresh coat of paint” on the production with upgraded elements to the set and some new dollar amounts in some games.

“When Drew started this year, the refurbishment was already done,” she said, noting of the producer’s departure. “We were finding a way to bring in somebody who might be more Drew’s guy.”

Which was news to Carey, who said he got along with his producer and was surprised by the move. Carey also noted that the recent version of the nighttime Price Is Right Million-Dollar Spectacular he hosted made insurance executives nervous, handing out $3-million over the first four tapings.

“They wanted to put as much pressure on the contestant and make it as difficult as possible so they don’t have to give away a million dollars,” Carey said. “I think it’s going to be harder to win a million bucks – because that $3-million in four shows, scared the heck out of them. That’s a whole lot of money. We had to jump through some hoops just to get insurance for the next round of tapings.”

The comic also lamented lacking the time or energy to pull together a full-fledged return to standup comedy – mostly because the money is so good.

“Larry the Cable Guy, in 2006 according to the Wall Street Journal, made $21-million,” he said. “Find a person on TV making $21-million a year. Can you imagine how much money Chris Rock is making playing the Staples Center (in Los Angeles)? You can’t make that money making movies – unless you’re Will Smith, and they already got a Will Smith.”

Carey’s other problem: his life is going too well. “(Stand up comedy) is harder to do when you’re not desperate for laughs -- like I used to be. That’s the kind of thing where you really have to be hungry to do it well, and if I do it, I really want to do it well.”

SNL creator has no problem making fun of Obama

  BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- After tussling with conservative radio host Blanquita Cullum on CNN this morning over the issue of why some humorists think they can't make fun of Barack Obama, I decided to make sure today to ask the master:

So, Saturday Night Live creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels, why are other people finding it so hard to lampoon the Democratic candidate?

"He's still defining himself and he's primarily cast as heroic," Michaels said. "But sooner or later, everyone does something to irritate us. He becomes more and more familiar...you sort of find what the take is, and everyone agrees with it. In the summer of 2004, the May shows, Darryl (Hammond) did Al Gore twice on Weekend Update at dress (rehearsal), and neither time it worked, and he'd already been vice president for seven years. It took the fall, when everyone was paying attention, for people to get clear on where they were prepared to laugh." 

"I think that Obama can't be mocked until somebody finds a way in," he added. "As a sketch thing, it only works if everyone laughs. The only way everyone laughs is if it seems right...You can't preach to people about this stuff. It only works if everybody goes 'Absolutely -- that's exactly what I was thinking.' We give voice to that. It doesn't mean we're partisan in any way, we just give voice to that."

Michaels faced TV critics here Sunday with the cast from SNL to talk about a wide range of stuff: NBC will make two more live SNLs than last season, 22 episodes total, and four new episodes straight out of the box; the network will also present SNL: Thursday Night Live, four half-hour episodes on Thursday in October centered on the election; Michaels will be helping Jimmy Fallon prepare his new 12:30 p.m. late night show, expected to take Conan O'Brien's slot in 2009; he also will be helping O'Brien move to Los Angeles and take over the Tonight Show next year; he'll be helping out with 30 Rock as a producer.

  And, oh yeah, he'll have to deal with SNL's utility player, Amy Poehler, having a baby later this year -- "hopefully, after the elections," Michaels quipped of Poehler, who plays Hillary Clinton -- and hiring two new cast members for the 33-year-old variety show.

"A lot of comedy people are like procrastinators who hate failure," said head writer and Weekend Update co-anchor Seth Meyers. "So, when they have to actually do a show, they all come together -- I'm not worried."

It's a interesting sight: After enduring inevitable talk last year that the show might again be on the decline, Michaels has spread his unique brand of SNL-forged humor across the showbiz landscape -- from 30 Rock star Tina Fey's successful movie Baby Mama, to Michael's dominance of NBC's late night plans. (he said Fallon, for example, will debut Webisodes online in the fall five or six months before his actual show debuts).

But one thing Michaels wouldn't dish much on: How he feels about the fact that NBC made a deal to center their late night lineup on his proteges O'Brien and Fallon, without finding a role for the guy currently winning the ratings war in late night, Jay Leno.

"I have so little to say on that," he said, smiling. "I only work there...One of the things that I learned from the first years of Conan, was how tough it is to find the show on the air. in 1975 with SNL, we were in a relatively obscure time period...we were able to stay experimental and keep finding it...Beginning (Fallon's) show online will give us a chance to find the show before it debuts."   

Tampa native Joanna Garcia: a veteran actress in kid's clothing

As an appropriately cynical TV opinionator, whenever I meet Tampa native Joanna Garcia, I'm always wondering in the back of my mind: Is she for real?

That's because, despite assembling a lengthy showbiz resume -- she starred in the old Nickelodeon series Are you Afraid of the Dark? back in 1994 -- Garcia seems as bubbly and enthusiastic as the day she started her first acting job, playing the role of Wendy in a Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center production of Peter Pan about 18 years ago.

This year may be the best year for her since snagging a co-starring role in the WB's long-running sitcom Reba in 2001. The 28-year-old is finally starring in her own series, Privileged, for the struggling CW network, playing a Yale graduate forced to care for a family's bratty rich kids in Palm Beach, Fla.

Considering some of the overnight success stories clogging Hollywood these days -- seems all you need to get a starring role in a network series these days is a work visa from England -- it's always surprised me that the Tampa Catholic High School grad didn't snag a series sooner, given her wide-eyed beauty, dedicated work ethic and CW-network-ready youthful look.

I spent some hanging with Garcia on the set of her new show last week -- where the show's crew has recreated the interiors of a glitzy, Trump-style mansion with surprising detail. I expect to cobble together a story based on my day there soon; Garcia proved an engaging, earnest subject, tackling everything from her romance with fiancee and longtime Justin Timberlake partner Trace Ayala to questions about why she dyed her signature blonde tresses auburn (it signifies a life change for her character in the pilot).

She may need that positive attitude soon: producers have been working hard to turn a 20-minute presentation filmed for the network into a full-fledged hourlong episode, bringing along movie veteran Anne Archer as the mother who hires Garcia's Megan Smith, crafting a comedy striving to bridge the gap between teens and young adults.   

“The one thing that’s kept me upbeat about my career, is that I’ve always made choices based on the material,” said Garcia, now starring in a comedy series producers defined as “the Gilmore Girls teaching the Gossip Girls.” “I feel really proud of everything I’ve done, because I never did anything for the money.” 

Hanks, Fey, Giamatti shine at the TV Critics' awards

More than once during the Television Critics Association awards ceremony last night, this thought came to mind:

THIS is why I love my job.

The TCA offers a unique take on awards ceremonies, held on the last Saturday night of press tour every year to celebrate the best the small screen has to offer. Because we want our honorees to show up, we tell them in advance who has won, and each year most every award winner does come to the Beverly Hilton Hotel for their glass plaque.

We have a no-muss ceremony, with a short intro from a TCA member for each award and a short -- usually very entertaining -- acceptance speech from the winner. And because it isn't televised, the onstage moments can offer wondrously off-the-wall magic.

Like John Adams star Paul Giamatti repeatedly referring to his part in HBO's grand seven-part epic as a "nutbuster." Several times. Or 30 Rock creator/star Tina Fey dishing on her love for Bosom Buddies (of course, Tom Hanks was in the house), relating how "the rest of our cast could not be here, because NBC is broke," and admitting how co-star Jack McBrayer "is actually a child...made up to look like a 30-year-old hillbilly."

Hanks, in accepting John Adams' TCA award for best movie and miniseries as a producer, noted that one objective of the project was "to show a president of the United States and his first lady, doing the deed in bed...We have achieved that goal." Hanks also gave a shout out to his award-winning star noting "(he) will show you his busted nuts...thank God this isn't on TV."

The night started with an amazing tribute to the Smothers Brothers, who stopped by to fill the show's traditional opening monologue (in the past, ably filled by comics such as Drew Carey and Garry Shandling), recounting how their songs and skits criticizing the Vietnam War got them fired from CBS, despite the fact they were earning serious ratings against TV's most popular show, the long-running Bonanza.

Dick and Tom Smothers showed clips from their series, which has taken on iconic status for critics,  revealing a pre-gray haired Steve Martin (a writer/performer on the show), early TV appearances by The Who and the Doors, an anti-war talk from Beatle George Harrison and an appearance from a brown-haired, Grizzly Adams-looking Kenny Rogers.

The biggest perk for critics: after the show, the celebs often mingle with us ink stained wretches. So I caught up with Dick Smothers, who owns a home in Siesta Key, and asked whether this war with this president feels reminiscent of the Vietnam War with the president who may have gotten them fired, Dick Nixon.

"Oh yes, but this is on steroids and crack...out of control," said Smothers. "I really think we should have a government where, if we lose confidence in them, we vote them out -- just like they do in France or England. The government should fear the people..they're our servants. But we fear the government."

The pair expect to soon see a DVD released of their legendary show, starting with the third and most controversial season "because that was the most funny," he said. "I think we get too much credit. we were in the chain of evolution...What we did is give the variety show a boost. CBS figured we were going to die anyway, so they gave us creative control. But we didn't like having an innocuous show, we wanted our show to be socially relevant...(After us) came Laugh In and Carol Burnett...suddenly, variety shows were hot, because TV loves to copy a hit."

Why a DVD set now? "We wanted to put it out before everyone who saw the show was dead," Smothers cracked.

Click below to see the 2008 TCA Award recipients:

Brenda Lives! Shannen Doherty joining '90210'

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- It’s a typically twisted showbiz irony: When the cast and creators from one of the most-anticipated new fall shows came to face the press, Topic A was the one person who wasn’t in the room.

Still, producers of the CW network’s new 90210 couldn’t wait to drop their big news Saturday to a roomful of TV critics: Shannen Doherty, the buzzed-about, troubled former star of Beverly Hills 90210, has agreed to join the cast of their 21st century reboot.

Doherty joins original 90210 alums Tori Spelling and Jennie Garth in the new show, playing a grown-up Brenda Walsh as a successful theater actress who returns to her old alma mater to direct a musical production.

But 90210 star Lori Loughlin, who was toiling away in the cast of the classic sitcom Full House when the first edition of 90210 was redefining television, urged critics to keep in mind that returning stars such as Doherty, Spelling and Garth won’t be the core of the revamped series. 

“It will be a new show…we certainly don’t want people tuning in, thinking they’re going to see Luke Perry and Jason Priestly and Brain Austin Green, because they’re not,” said Loughlin, who plays the mother in a couple moving their kids to Beverly Hills from Kansas to care for her mother-in-law, a faded TV star-turned-alcoholic.

“It is a new group of kids at West Beverly High, with new teenagers and new issues,” she said. “Kids are exposed to a little bit more at an earlier age. Stuff that we were dealing with in college, maybe they’re dealing with in high school. They want to show this new world of teenagers today.”

Critics here noted that the first 90210 was a groundbreaking show, which centered on a glamorous collection of teenage characters at a time when few show paid attention to that age group. The new edition hopes to draw in both fans of the old show and curious youngsters, featuring classic characters grown up and a re-imagining the show’s old diner hangout, The Peach Pit, as a cool coffeehouse with an upstairs club.

Critics also noted this is the series which could save the flagging CW: a buzzed-about production which might actually draw a wide spectrum of viewers. “It’s huge pressure…but you just have to do your job," said executive producer Gabe Sachs. "The network and the studio, they’re concerned about every little part of this, because this is a big deal to them. Gone are the days when a network says 'Hey creative people -- here's a pile of money, go make your TV show.'

Sachs and his partner Jeff Judah hope to bring the same subversive spirit which made past shows they’ve written – Freaks and Geeks, Undeclared and Just Shoot Me – critical favorites. They also hoped to retain their reputation for keeping a tension-free workspace, despite the addition of Doherty, who left the first 90210 and her later series Charmed, amid rumors of sharp disagreements with producers and co-workers on both shows.

Speaking to reports after the session today, Sachs downplayed any notions of Doherty as a trouble maker -- though her offscreen antics years ago were legendary, from getting arrested for assault in the '90s to a DUI charge in 2001. He said someone from her camp called him as news of the reboot was circulating Hollywood, and they eventually agreed to meet at a restaurant to feel each other out.

“I couldn’t judge her, I’d just heard these stories about her…but we brainstormed on ideas and she was so excited,” said Sachs of Doherty. “We’re including her, and I think maybe her (previous) experience was very different.”

Could Cyrus the Virus or Morpheus have replaced Grissom?

It's hard to imagine someone as quirky and cool as John Malkovich (Con Air's Cyrus the Virus) or Matrix co-star Laurence Fishburne actually doing time on a CBS cop show.

So it's not surprising really that CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler wound up admitting that attempts to secure Malkovich as a possible addition to the cast of CSI never worked out, amid news that star William Petersen was leaving his role next season as team leader Gil Grissom. Tassler said the network "talked about" Fishburne, but never really settled on him.

The new character Malkovich would have played wouldn’t necessarily replace Petersen’s character, joining the Las Vegas forensics unit as a new guy who secretly knows he has a genetic disposition to become a serial killer. Tassler expected Petersen to leave the show after 10 episodes or so in the middle on the 2008-09 season, overlapping a few shows with the new character.

“You look at someone like John Malkovich,..who has an interesting internal life to every character he does,” Tassler said, noting that Malkovich begged off before formal negotiations could begin. “We’re looking for someone that has depth and scope and gravitas.”

 

 

 

Katie Couric to critics: I'm not going anywhere

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Like Jennifer Holliday's fierce character from Dreamgirls, Katie Couric had one, unambiguous message for TV critics here during a press conference for CBS News:

Despite all the hyped-up reports suggesting the anchor was planning a quick exit from the CBS Evening News, she’s ain't going nowhere.

“We have no plans to part company,” Couric said, when I asked about rumors in the press earlier this year that she would leave the show after the presidential election in November or after the inauguration in January.

“There were a lot of speculative pieces that I think got, quite frankly, spun out of control,” she added, speaking to reporters in California by satellite from the evening news studios in New York City. “When you work with an organization, you have ongoing discussions. (But) I am very committed to the people here. I’m very committed to the product. So I can say (the stories are) not true.”

Flanked by Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer, political analyst Jeff Greenfield and CBS News president Sean McManus, Couric seemed to cut a different figure than the glamorous news celebrity who took over the network’s flagship news program nearly two years ago. Stressing the show’s quality and the work to come covering politics and war, CBS was presenting a de-glamorized Couric; someone more in tune with the traditional priorities of the evening news audience and still hopeful they would give her show a chance.

On the question, for example, of why all three network news anchors are traveling with Democratic candidate Barack Obama for his trip to Iraq next week, Couric was candid: Obama’s organization was smart enough to invite the press along.

“I think it was very deft on the part of the Obama campaign,” she said, noting she spent time in McCain’s campaign headquarters for a story to air next week. “I have to be honest, when John McCain went to four countries in the Middle East in March – I think had he extended an invitation, offered time for each network anchor to sit down to have a extended conversation and access to him on that trip. I think that’s something we would have considered…(though) Obama going to the Middle East is a bigger story.”

My question: Why are such high-powered journalists depending on campaign staffers to invite them to cover the news? 

Schieffer had a different take: “(Obama’s) only been there once in two years…and the reason he’s going is John McCain dared him to go,” said the veteran political reporter. “It doesn’t bother me to be criticized for covering the news too much. It’s when we don’t cover it enough, that’s when I think the criticism is a little more valid.”

The group also defended foreign correspondent Lara Logan – Schieffer called her “the greatest reporter of her generation” -- despite recent messy headlines about her personal life and public criticism of the way CBS News handled some of her stories.

Still, Couric and Co. had few answers for why the CBS Evening News as recently as April still notched record low ratings, as viewers still hesitate to watch a show now winning major journalism awards and acknowledged by critics as equal to the competition.

“We can do what we’ve said from day one: which is put on the best quality newscast we can,” said McManus. “I continue to believe that if we do that, more people will watch.”

Deggans on CNN Sunday: Can anyone lampoon Obama?

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.-- Just returned from a trip to CNN's Los Angeles bureau, where I engaged Reliable Sources host Howard Kurtz in a pre-taped discussion on why comics feel they can't make fun of Barack Obama. More on that here.

In true showbiz fashion, I traveled 3,000 miles to go on a show produced in Washington D.C., facing the camera at 7:30 a.m. Pacific time to declare all this angst about lampooning candidate Obama mostly hogwash. We taped the segment today, but you'll be able to see it at about 10:30 a.m. Sunday on CNN.

Saturday Night Live lampooned Obama's love affair with the press and the possibility he might turn to Hillary Clinton for advice as president months ago. Animation political satirists Jib Jab offered a pretty sharp skewering this week of Obama's tendency to speak in gauzy, hopeful generalities (here's another Jib Jab gem on Obama). And Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock have been cracking jokes about the difficulties a black president would face for years (Rock even made a movie about it, and awful as Head of State was, nobody suggested he crossed some kind of propriety line).

So why exactly can't people find ways to poke fun at a nerdy, slightly effete metrosexual with a funny name? (shout out to Joel Stein, who aptly summed this all up in a cheeky Los Angeles Times column today).

There are some challenges. Because all the late night comedy shows are hosted by white guys, it is difficult for them to make fun of Obama's most obvious attribute -- that he's a person of color. Frankly, if more of them had people of color in their casts, or if a network had a show hosted by a person of color, it wouldn't be such an issue for them. This may be another way Obama's candidacy naturally pulls us into a discussion on the advantages of diversity, creating a situation where the advantages of having a range of voices available to comment on issues becomes more obvious.

And you traffic in clumsy humor about Obama at a higher risk. At a time when every little comment can become a huge controversy, both supporters and enemies of Obama will be sensitive to ham-handed efforts to poke at him -- which was the problem with the New Yorker cover, I think.

Anyway, tune into the discussion Sunday and feel free to come back here and offer your own comments. Frankly, I find it surprising that some folks act as if Obama's skill at presenting an image which is tough to lampoon is somehow a criticism of him.

'Grey's' creator endures Heigl-related hell

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Critics must have tried asking the same question of Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes four different times, during a press conference here minutes ago alongside producers from Lost, Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewives and Dirty Sexy Money:

Aren't you pissed at Katherine Heigl?

After all, Heigl blamed the show's writers for not writing material strong enough for her to submit material for an Emmy nomination -- an award she won last year. Rumors flew that she was off the show or trying to get kicked off the show to pursue her film career or about to see her character given a brain tumor for her trouble.

Unfortunately, Rhimes, who was expecting a grilling, wouldn't bite, noting that Heigl had asked to be used lightly toward the end of last season to do a movie. "When I was told about it, I found it surprising," she said, wearing the same vaguely annoyed look critics often see from her. "The story that's out in the press is generally only half the story...I didn't feel insulted."

Then, Desperate Housewives producer Mark Cherry provided a better answer, referencing an infamous photo shoot for Vanity Fair that reportedly devolved into a fight among the four stars. "Usually,the best way to deal with actors, is you pretend they're real people and talk to them," he said, drawing big laughs. "I ultimately solved it by hugging a sobbing actress for 30 minutes and assuring her, this too shall pass...It's not real life, its just show business."

And his advice for explaining Heigl's comments? "She was drunk," he said, laughing. "Did that help?"

Maybe not Rhimes, but it sure worked for the rest of us.

Emmy nominations serve notice: cable is where the best TV lives

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – There’s a changing of the guard in the air today, as a fresh posse of buzzed-about new series collected major nominations in the 2008 Emmy awards – many from the world of basic cable TV.

Critical darlings such as AMC’s Mad Men and Breaking Bad, HBO’s In Treatment, FX’s Damages and ABC’s Pushing Daisies burst into major categories among the nominees announced today, in some cases pushing out more established shows. Experts pointed fingers at the Hollywood writer’s strike, which hobbled Emmy favorites such as Fox’s 24 and NBC’s Heroes, sending viewers in search of quality TV to basic cable series in greater numbers.

Nowhere was this more evident than in the drama acting categories, where Mad Men’s Jon Hamm, Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston and In Treatment’s Gabriel Byrne surfaced as best actor nominees – occupying space once held by the Sopranos and 24.

Damages star Glenn Close and Saving Grace’s Holly Hunter broke into the female drama acting category, taking space held last year by actresses from NBC’s Medium and The Sopranos. Similarly, Mad Men, Damages and Showtime’s Dexter joined perennial nominees House, Lost and Boston Legal in the best drama category.

But for new shows to win, some established series had to lose. So Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Heroes and Ugly Betty were shut out of major categories, serving notice that a new crop of quality shows are on Emmy’s radar screen (my own tiny gripe: that HBO’s landmark crime drama The Wire got just one nomination for its final season this year, the same number as According to Jim and Kid Nation).

Despite the upsets, this year’s crop of nominations proved less surprising than in years past, thanks to the Emmy’s academy’s decision to release lists of 10 semifinalists in best drama and best comedy series categories last month. Surprisingly accurate bootleg lists of semifinalists in major acting categories made the rounds among fans and insiders as well, leaving some performers well aware that they were out of the running early on.

By the way, my predictions of which shows would land in the best drama and best comedy categories were pretty good -- I only missed Entourage, Boston Legal and Damages (and I gave Grey' Anatomy too much credit).

As usual, an HBO miniseries led the pack in nominations for a single show, with John Adams racking up 23 nods. Recount, HBO’s tale of the fight for Florida’s electoral votes in 2000, placed fifth with 11 nominations, including one for Laura Dern’s turn as former Secretary of State Katherine Harris.
NBC’s 30 Rock was the best-performing series with 17 nominations and Mad Men proven the best performing freshman, coming in third with 16 nominations overall.

Of course, there’s still lots to complain about. For instance, among 31 lead acting nominations for drama, comedy and miniseries, there were just two actors of color nominated – Ugly Betty’s America Ferrera and A Raisin in the Sun’s Phylicia Rashad. And why does Law & Order: SVU’s Mariska Harguitay keep racking up best actress nominations for increasingly hysterical performances in ever more outlandish plotlines?

But so many outstanding newcomers were nominated – from Pushing Daisies’ Lee Pace as best actor in comedy to Samantha Who?’s Christina Applegate as best comedy actress and a first-ever nomination for a Saturday Night Live castmember in Amy Pohler’s supporting actress comedy nod. So why nitpick?

And if dipping ratings this year weren’t evidence enough, the broadcast networks just got notice: Quality is increasingly migrating to cable TV. Time to take action before the slide becomes a permanent situation.

To see full list of nominees, click below...   

Leno to ABC? Reporter Jimmy Kimmel investigates

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- The moment Jay Leno joked on NBC's Tonight Show about defecting to rival ABC, executives at the alphabet network knew TV critics would pounce on the concept.

So, when entertainment president Stephen McPherson faced reporters here at the TCA press tour today, he had a special inquisitor bring up the question: ABC late night host Jimmy Kimmel.

Introducing himself as a reporter from the Sarasota Herald Banner Tribune, Kimmel let a little air out of the Leno speculation by asking questions like "Would (hiring Leno mean) Ted Koppel get(s) fired?" and "Are you at all worried that if you were to replace Jimmy Kimmel, he might do something to you or your car?"

"I'm close to Jimmy and I was talking to him yesterday about some other things, and I said 'I'm going to get questioned about this thing, just want you to know'" McPherson said. "You know, we've been transparent with everything with Jimmy and telling him what's going on. So I said, why don't you come over and you ask the question yourself?"

The speculation about Leno has grown in recent months, as the date nears for a 2009 transition which will see Conan O'Brien taking over the Tonight Show from Leno and former Saturday Night Live performer Jimmy Fallon taking over the 12:30 p.m. Late Night show. On Monday night, Leno held up a mistaken magazine headline which read "Host of the Tonight Show on ABC," saying "it's like a headline from the future."

As early as last year's press tour, NBC officials seemed nervous about what exactly Leno might do at NBC once he leaves the Tonight Show, stressing that they valued him as a performer, even as they were orchestrating his departure from TV's top-rated late-night show. For ABC, the opportunity comes as Kimmel's show is building ratings and buzz -- on the strength of spoof videos starring Ben Affleck and Matt Damon -- leaving open the question of how Kimmel, Leno and Nightline might co-exist in the same late night lineup.

After the press session, McPherson shrugged off any serious talk of bringing Leno to the network, saying "the Leno talk is not something that's going to go on behind closed doors and suddenly be sprung on people...(but) I just still can't believe NBC is really going to let him go -- it just wouldn't make any business sense."

Wonder who NBC is going to get to ask the question when they get here on Sunday?      

ABC's fall premiere dates! (Not much has changed)

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Like more traditional competitor CBS, ABC is going to roll out its new scripted fall shows beginning the week of Sept. 22 -- confirming that, despite all the talk of rebooting the TV industry after the writers' strike, not much has changed.

What is obvious -- there is less new material -- two new series this fall, and new episodes of several new shows from last season that ABC wants to throw at audiences again. It seems more and more obvious that this fall will be mostly about returning shows, with a limited amount of new stuff for viewers coming off a summer filled with reruns and reality TV.

I'm listening to a press conference with ABC entertainment head Stephen McPherson, and a post on his comments will soon follow. Until then, here's ABC's  primetime fall premiere dates:

Friday, September 19
10:00-11:00 p.m. “20/20”

Monday, September 22
8:00-10:00 p.m. “Dancing with the Stars” (special two-hour performance show premiere)
10:00-11:00 p.m. “Boston Legal”

Tuesday, September 23
8:00-9:00 p.m. “Opportunity Knocks” (new series debut)
9:00-11:00 p.m. “Dancing with the Stars” (special performance show)

Wednesday, September 24
8:00-9:00 p.m. “Dancing with the Stars Results Show Special” (special day and time)
9:00-11:00 p.m. “David Blaine Special”

Thursday, September 25
8:00-9:00 p.m. “Ugly Betty”
9:00-11:00 p.m. “Grey’s Anatomy” (special two-hour season premiere)

Sunday, September 28
7:00-9:00 p.m. “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (two-hour season premiere)
9:00-10:00 p.m. “Desperate Housewives”
10:00-11:00 p.m. “Brothers & Sisters”

Tuesday, September 30
9:00-10:00 p.m. “Dancing with the Stars Result Show” (regular day and time period premiere)

Wednesday, October 1
8:00-9:00 p.m. “Pushing Daisies”
9:00-10:00 p.m. “Private Practice”
10:00-11:00 p.m. “Dirty Sexy Money”

Friday, October 3
8:00-9:00 p.m. “Wife Swap”
9:00-10:00 p.m. “Supernanny”

Sunday, October 5
7:00-8:00 p.m. “America’s Funniest Home Videos”
8:00-9:00 p.m. “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (regular time period premiere)

Monday, October 6
9:30-10:00 p.m. “Samantha Who?”

Thursday, October 9
9:00-10:00 p.m. “Grey’s Anatomy” (regular time period premiere)
10:00-11:00 p.m. “Life on Mars” (new series debut)

Tuesday, October 14
10:00-11:00 p.m. “Eli Stone”

Why are movie stars flocking to cable shows?

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- It was an amazing lineup of talent assembled on one stage: Glenn Close (Big Chill, Jagged Edge), William Hurt (Altered States, Big Chill), Ted Danson (Cheers) and Timothy Olyphant (Live Free, Die Hard; Deadwood).

And when TV critics here asked that lineup -- assembled to fill the cast of FX's legal drama, Damages -- about why they had come together to do a television show, Danson's reaction said it all.

"(This show) made me really excited about going to work as an actor again...and that had kind of diminished for me a little bit," said the former Cheers star, who earned some of his strongest reviews in recent years playing Damages' narcissistic CEO Arthur Frobisher. "When you're in your 30s, it's much more fun to be the easygoing womanizing bartender. When you're in your 60s, this is way more fun."

And Danson isn't alone. Cable shows across the dial are filled with movie stars writing new acts for themselves in signature cable series, from Kyra Sedgwick on TNT's the Closer to Holly Hunter in TNT's Saving Grace and Benjamin Bratt on A&E's The Cleaner.

FX president John Landgraf had a simple explanation for all the movie star power: cable shows are more complex, challenging and creatively ambitious than ever before.

"These are not shows about the case of the week," he said, taking a bit of a swipe at network TV hits such as House and CSI. "they're shows that tell large, sweeping serialized stories about characters who change and grow...(These shows) are taking on social commentary...grand, sweeping questions about human characters and human nature. To me, those are the best shows on television." 

Seven years ago, when Landgraf and a bunch of hotshots were about to debut a gritty cop series based on Los Angeles' Rampart Division police scandal called The Shield, critics weren't sure what to make of this strategy -- spending millions to create a signature show which could sink the network if it didn't work. Back then, there were eight hour-long scripted series in basic cable, not very well respected; now there are more than 30.

Flash forward to today, and Landgraf faced TV critics today to take credit for the explosion of quality TV series filling basic cable these days, from TNT's The Closer and Saving Grace to TBS' My Boys, AMC's Mad Men and Breaking Bad and A&E's The Cleaner. Now, it's accepted practice that any ambitious network will stick some bucks behind an ambitious series idea to try and make a splash.

"It's really, really hard to find a great show," said Landgraf. "To find shows that are both creatively excellent and successful is like searching for a needle in a haystack."

Uhh, yeah. Well, grand statements aside, Landgraf confirmed what I've written before -- the quality gulf between basic cable and network TV is growing. And splintering the TV audience right along with it.

Here's some other announcements:

-- Michael J. Fox is officially joining the cast of Denis Leary's firefighter hit Rescue Me for four episodes, as the wheelchair bound new boyfriend of the ex-wife of Leary's character Tommy Gavin. He will be featured in the first episodes when the show returns in 2009. Gavin once beat his brother to a pulp for dating his ex --wonder what he'll do to a guy in a wheelchair?

-- Marcia Gay Harden is joining the cast of the Glenn Close legal drama Damages as a high powered attorney who will oppose Close's Gloria Allred-style character Patty Hewes. Cheers alum Ted Danson is reappearing as the show's quality baddie Arthur Frobisher. Fans will recall that Frobisher was shot at the end of the show's first season, and while the show's creators tried to play coy with critics here, FX president Landgraf let it slip that Danson's character survived the attack.

-- FX is ordering another 19 episodes of the plastic surgery drama, Nip/Tuck, planning for the show to wrap up in 2011. The last eight episodes of its 5th season will air in January 2009; when it leaves the air, Nip/Tuck will have assembled more than 100 episodes.

-- FX will also make 52 more original episodes of the comedy It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, to go with the 32 episodes which have already aired. Its Fourth season premieres at 10 p.m. on Sept. 18.

   

First peek at '24' movie, new villain

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Jon Voight had a very specific person in mind as inspiration for the smooth, sarcastic corporate villain he will play in next season’s edition of Fox’s high-octane spy series 24.
And he’s not about to tell me who it is.

“You want me to give up all my secrets,” said Voight, corralled by a small throng of reporters here at the Beverly Hilton Hotel during an informal session to tout the show’s return. “I looked for a model that I could enjoy…that made me smile. I finally decided he’s a witty fellow, sarcastic perhaps. He’s intimidating because he plays it light, but he’s got a sharp barb – his tongue can hurt you. He’s got a sense of humor, but boy, he’s dangerous.”

Voight said producers approached him to join the show, playing business leader Jonas Hodges (and no, he’s not based on Donald Trump).

“24 is exceptional stuff – so you’re safe,” he said, speaking on the growing number of film stars dabbling in TV work. “You know you’re going to be doing interesting things that are going to have some substance, and they can accomplish them…These days, it’s not a surprise to see a film actor show up on a TV set. That started with Friends – everybody did Friends. Brad did Friends, everybody dropped by. It’s just going where the stuff is good.”

Critics also responded well to clips from the two-hour 24 movie producers assembled when it became clear that the Hollywood writers’ strike would scuttle plans to air the series this year. Taking place in real time just like the series, 24: Exile places Kiefer Sutherland’s superspy Jack Bauer in Africa -– a storyline they could never work out in the regular series, because it would take too long to get their hero from Africa to the U.S., given the requirement that every minute onscreen must progress in real time.

“Our first two hours were supposed to be in Africa…but realistically, when I left my house to go to Africa, the trip took 36 hours, so that was a problem,” said 24 director Jon Cassar. “After we wrote it, it really started to feel like the opening of a James Bond – sexy, different cool…We ended up with a storyline that didn’t have Jack in it. But we thought, ‘Do you really want to to go to African and no show Jack Bauer?’ So this is the best of both worlds.”

The brief glimpses critics got made Bauer look a bit like Rambo, vaulting over huts in an African village, enduring a hot machete pressed to the side of his face – there’s that torture thing again! – and challenging a child soldier leveling a rifle at him. Jack also faces an investigation over his use of torture – the show’s one nod to the criticism that they too often show violent torture working on screen when it doesn’t in real life.

“We know that a true interrogation would work if you took the three days it would take (to use non-violence),” said Cassar. “We have two minutes. It’s part of a storytelling device for us – not one we’re proud of, but one nonetheless.”

And don’t bother asking Voight how his scenes look in the new show (or about the twins his semi-estranged daughter Agelina Jolie just had; he's not talking about her to poreserve their relationship). He hasn’t seen them.

“When I did Midnight Cowboy, they didn’t want me to know how good I was, so they kept me away from any of the work, because it was the first film I’d done,” said the actor, who was nominated for a Best Acting Oscar from the 1969 film. “And that turned out pretty well – I’m hard on myself. So it’s probably best I stay away from watching stuff.”

Chillin' with Family Guy's Stewie

Usually, I avoid taking pictures with celebrities at TCA like the plague: It's a sure sign of a newbie on the critics tour. But Fox brought a bunch of life-size mascots from The Simpsons and Family Guy, so I couldn't resist getting a shot with Stewie. (and to answer the snarky question, no I wasn't imbibing anything -- my pal and fellow critic from Kansas City, Aaron Barnhart, caught me with my eyes closed).

Fox host accuses TV critics of 'double standard'

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- It was supposed to be a smackdown of serious proportions -- a roomful of journalists meeting the architect of modern-day Republican electoral politics and a raft of GOP policies under serious public criticism these days: former White House political strategist Karl Rove.

Instead, critics here at the press tour were treated to a minutes-long critique from Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace, who felt some pointed questions from journalists about attempts by Congress to get Rove before a public hearing were unfair.

“I'm struck by what I think is a double standard. Maybe somebody can explain to me why it is that if Congress and the White House are having a fight over executive power, that should in any way constrain an independent news organization's decision as to who it's going to have on its payroll," said Wallace, who expressed doubts that journalists would be similarly probing of NBC News’ recent hiring of GOP strategist Mike Murphy. Later, while rushing out of the press conference to catch a plane, he dismissed the session by a curt assessment. “It's bullshit.”

Such is the peculiarly put-upon world of Fox News, where most criticism is unfair and probing questions are mostly evidence of political bias. Never mind that some have criticized Rove for hiding behind executive privilege to avoid explaining publicly to Congress his role in the U.S. Attorneys firing scandal – or the fact that a former White House press secretary recently wrote a book calling him a straight-up liar during the controversy over the outing of former CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity.

Not that the press session here was wall-to-wall tough questions for Rove. Journalists asked him about the transition to punditry, the mistakes Mitt Romney may have made and the quality of competing cable channels’ election coverage.

“I'm not the myth I have been developed into,” Rove said. “I'm like Grendel in Beowulf. People talk about me a lot and they don't see me very often.…(But) Harry Truman said, ‘If you live in Washington and want to have a friend, get a dog.’ And I've got two.”

Indeed, if anyone really had a right to be upset, it was Fox News Executive Vice President John Moody, who faced questions about Fox & Friends distorting pictures of two New York Times journalists who developed a piece unflattering to Fox (“Fox & Friends is an entertainment show that does some news,” Moody said, not really explaining why a news channel aired grossly altered pictures of two other journalists without explanation. “It's there for a little bit of entertainment.”)

Moody was also asked about anchor E.D. Hill's suggesting the Obamas’ fist bump might be considered a “terrorist fist jab” and the tightening ratings race with CNN and MSNBC.

But it was Wallace who often went on the attack, excoriating MSNBC for allowing Keith Olbermann to anchor primary coverage after delivering “10-minute screeds against President Bush, telling him to shut the hell up. Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity don't anchor the election coverage at Fox.”

That's the problem with presenting subjects whose personal histories are so convoluted and controversial. Howard Wolfson is taking an on air role weeks after leaving Hillary Clinton’s unsuccessful presidential campaign, while Rove talked of not wanting to affect the outcome of the presidential election after admitting many players in the contest are tapping him unofficially for advice and strategy.

Dismantling their carefully built justifications is tough to do in a press conference where any one writer gets two or three questions at most. And Wallace's bluster aside, it's hard to know why Fox and Friends airing photoshopped caricatures with a vaguely anti-semitic air get a shrug from the Fox News Sunday anchor, but Olbermann's involvement with MSNBC's primary reporting gets an explosion of condemnation (especially since Hannity and his partner Alan Colmes also have been featured in much of Fox News' primary coverage this year)

It's hard to know how all of this adds up to coverage that's any more fair and balanced than its competitors, which have made their own mistakes. But it seems TV critics can't ask those questions without snarking off folks like Wallace – who are seemingly much more comfortable asking incisive questions than answering them.      

Jessica King quits 'So You Think You Can Dance'

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Is Fox TV hiding behind HIPAA?

That's the impression Nigel Lythgoe, the bratty Brit judge and co-creator of Fox's reality hit So You Think You Can Dance? left TV critics here, after announcing that dancer Jessica King would be leaving the show, and then refusing to detail the injury that knocked her off the show -- citing the HIPAA laws against revealing medical information.

"I've been instructed not to discuss the injury...you have a law here which says I cannot discuss the injury," said Lythgoe, also dropping the nugget that King would be explaining her injury herself on the show Wednesday. I wonder, is it also possible Fox wants the cause of such a momentous change to be revealed on their air, instead of on the blogs and columns of 200 newspapers nationwide?

"I'd like to get off this subject as quickly as possible," Lythgoe added during the session, noting that most recently eliminated semi-finalist Comfort Fedoke will take her place. This is how one of the first press conferences held by a network at the TV Critics Association's summer press tour kicked off -- with news that a dancer would be leaving TV's highest-rated summer show (and the Tampa Bay area's highest-rated program as well), but with little explanation as to why.

We're in for an interesting day here at the TCA tour -- Fox will soon bring press sessions on Lost creator J.J. Abrams new X-Files-type drama, Fringe (which Fox screened last night to mixed reviews from critics here) and a Fox News Channel session with former White House political strategist Karl Rove.

As I've written before in this space, network TV is in flux -- no one here knows where the future of medium lies and there don't seem to be a lot of bold plans for meeting the new challenges. Rest assured, we will chronicle all the missteps and false starts here.   

By the way, my fave line of the session came from another bratty judge, Mary Murphy, who acknowledged her, um, generous vocal contributions to the program by admitting "I'm here today to inform you that I'm louder than a vacuum cleaner and rock band and a jet engine." No doubt, lady.

Snarking off 'Closer' Kyra Sedgwick

Now I’ve done it. I’ve snarked off one of the coolest characters on TV, Los Angeles Deputy Police Chief Brenda Johnson.

The conflict came last week during an interview with the actress who plays her, Kyra Sedgwick, star of TNT’s hit police drama The Closer. Returning for its fourth season at 9 tonight, the show features Sedwick’s Johnson struggling to solve a murder committed inside a raging wildfire while coping with a nosy Los Angeles Times reporter assigned to tag along with her unit and cramped living quarters with her FBI agent fiancée.

I made the mistake of pushing Sedgwick a bit on the reporter character, who lives down to the typical stereotypes of journalists on TV shows – trying to solve the case before the cops do, insisting on publishing information which would obviously tip off the suspect, etc. I asked why some many journalists on TV shows and movies are so unprofessional; she concluded I was being defensive.

She had a point, but so did I. After a particularly satisfying season last year, in which producers upended the quirky family of characters who fill Johnson’s squad room, The Closer returns this year with a episode which feels like its running in place – hinting at great things to come without really producing many of them for to show at hand.

No wonder Sedgwick and I spent some time trading verbal ripostes. Here’s an edited version of our conversation:

Deggans: I watched the first episode and it seemed like last season you guys were playing a lot with the family dynamic being disrupted, you know. Your character’s relationship with her second-in-command was damaged and he also developed a forbidden romance with another detective in the squad. In the first episode that I’ve seen for this season, it seems you’re not playing on that field as much. Is that an accurate reading…?
Sedgwick: Oh my God, no. Absolutely not. First of all, there’s a conflict going on between (the dating officers) Det. Daniels and Sgt. Gabriel. I don’t know if you noticed that.
D: Oh, right, right.
S: They’re snapping at each other all the time. That is totally something that needs to be dealt with in the next … that will be demonstrated … dealt with in the next few episodes. And because it’s a relationship that’s verboten and because it’s a relationship that Brenda never supported because it’s a work relationship and she doesn’t think that those are … you know, you can’t have a partner be a lover as well. She has a lot of feelings about it that will come to the fore. There’s a whole thing that happens with Provenza around his screwing up again, you know. Gabriel screws up again. I mean, there’s a lot of that, and that’s something that we’d never ever lose because the squad is a family in and of itself. There’s the personal life of Brenda and (her fiancée) Fritz, etc., but there’s also very much that family dynamic that happens. Last year’s theme was family; this year’s theme is power. But there’s gonna be plenty of personal dynamics within that scene.
D: So now, how does the power theme kinda assert itself?
S: Well, I think that in the first episode you see that she loses some of her power simply by virtue of the fact that there’s this reporter that’s sniffing around and, you know, screwing up evidence and speaking to one of her main suspects and telling him things that he shouldn’t know. There’s that issue of power there and who’s in control and who has the power in that relationship, the reporter or the cop who’s trying to get at the truth. There’s the issue of the fire, which is so completely out of control that she has no power over whatsoever. It’s sort of a mirror to her dealing with this case and feeling so overwhelmed and feeling so out of control in her own life and in her, you know, personal relationship with Fritz and the fact that she had to move into this place that she didn’t want to move to, and the fact that the men can’t know about the cat and she has no cat and the fact that she keeps everything in boxes and that way she feels like she can compartmentalize and control her life and be in power, be in control of her life by, you know, keeping everything in boxes. I mean, it’s insane but that’s the way our minds work as people.
D: Sure, sure. She’s this really nice control freak (laughter).
S: There will be shakeups in the squad this year and I think that people will go with it because I think that, you know, they believe where we’re taking these characters and so I don’t think it limits us in any way. I think it gives us tremendous, tremendous freedom. But I think that it’s a lot more work because … and it’s a lot harder for the writers now that the characters are so ingrained in all of us. The other actors come to the set with so much, so many great things to do and so many great, subtle sub-stories that, you know, I think it’s more work for the writers but I think that, you know, ultimately it’s what makes the show so rich.

On a mission in Los Angeles

Aside from the 14-hour workdays and long moments feigning interest in the biographies of Deal or No Deal models, the TV Critics Association’s July press tour can look like summer vacation for professional small-screen junkies.

This year's event offers two weeks of news conferences, parties and set visits to showcase new programming. There are few events like it in any field; Where else can you watch Jeff Goldblum play jazz piano one moment and have a drink with the president of CNN/U.S. the next?

Though the whole mess started last Tuesday, I join it all Sunday, offering constant updates here. Some of the trends I’ll be scouting:

The Future: As TV fans spend more time in digital worlds, the writers strike cuts the number of new shows and the average network TV viewer gets older and poorer, the future for big broadcasters is murky at best. No one knows which way success lies, particularly when videogames and Web sites may offer more competition than rival channels.

Diversity: Among network TV’s diminished slate of new shows, just one stars a person of color: The Cleveland Show (above), an animated spinoff of Fox’s Family Guy series starring a black character voiced by a white guy. Clearly, broadcasters have backslid from the days when multi-ethnic casts powered hits like Lost and Grey’s Anatomy. Instead, minority characters are usually BBFs — black (or Latino) best friends with little life beyond the concerns of the white lead personality. Could this be one reason young people find network TV increasingly old-fashioned?

The British Invasion: Once upon a time, network TV just imported actors and reality shows. These days, broadcasters are so desperate for new concepts that no fewer than five scripted shows have been pilfered from overseas, including a remake of the Aussie comedy Kath and Kim and the British time travel drama Life on Mars. That’s modern-day America; we’re even outsourcing our TV bombs.

We didn't get around to redoing it this year, but here's my waycool animated intro to press tour from last year: