"Mad Men," an AMC series most of you aren't watching, was the big winner at the Television Critics Association 24th annual awards tonight. The series about the advertising game in the early '60s won Program of the Year, Outstanding New Program of the Year and Outstanding Achievement in Drama.
To take the hat trick, the first-year series bested the likes of "Pushing Daisies," "Lost," "The Wire" and "John Adams."
Don't shed any tears for "John Adams." The HBO mini-series about the second President picked up the TCA award as Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Mini-series and Specials. Paul Giamatti, who portrayed Adams, was given the Individual Achievement in Drama award. In accepting the award, Giammatti says that while the honor was for individual achievement making the mini-series was definitely a group effort.
Actors have been known to gain weight, lose weight, learn a new language, take dance lessons, get hair extensions, bind their feet or get surgery to play a role. It is all in the name of the character. Mary-Louise Parker, star of the Showtime series "Weeds," faced horrible pain for a scene that will air during this fourth season of "Weeds" on the cable channel.
If you don't pay for Showtime (and if you steal it, I don't want to know), Parker plays a suburban mom who sells pot to make a living. This year she's moved out of the suburbs but the drug dealing has not stopped.
Parker was in the middle of filming a scene where she was getting physical (wink, wink). And in the course of that moment, Parker broke her toe.
That begs the question, how does one break a toe while in the throws of passion?
The Television Critics Association tour is winding toward the end. Today, stars and executives from CBS took centerstage. The big discussion centered on the impending departure of William Petersen from "CSI." He will be in the first 10 episodes of this year before leaving the crime drama.
CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler says no one has been cast to replace Petersen. But she did say the character would be a doctor who has DNA that carries the same characteristics of serial killers. He will have to deal with that as he rises to the head of the Las Vegas CSI department.
It sounds a lot like "Dexter." Maybe Michael C. Hall will be the replacement.
Fans of the ABC series "Desperate Housewives" saw an interesting end to last year's season finale. The show wrapped up with the timeline leaping ahead five years. That wasn't just a cute way to end the season. When "Desperate Housewives" returns later this year, the show will continue to be set in this new future.
Marc Cherry, creator of "Desperate Housewives," got the idea for the time shift from "Lost." He told television critics who have gathered in Los Angeles he had been looking for a way to clean the slate. The time shift allows him to make some major changes with the characters.
There was one challenge of the time shift that was the most difficult.
ABC put together a panel of television series creators, whose work included such shows as "Desperate Housewives" and "Private Practice," to meet with the television critics who have gathered here in Los Angeles. Also on the panel was Silvio Horta, the man behind "Ugly Betty."
We now know Christopher Gorham is not returning to the ABC series. The Fresno native's role as Betty's love interest will not be back next year. Gorham has landed the lead in the CBS mid-season thriller "Harper's Island." Horta's appearance on the panel provided an opportunity to find out what was behind the decision to end the storyline.
Was it as simple as the character was never supposed to last more than one season? Or did it have something to do with the production moving to New York?
I want to make one thing perfectly clear. I don't dance. Can't. Won't. Shouldn't. In fact there is California legislation that prohibits me from attempting a waltz, tango, fox trot or ANY dance style. It is better known as The Herman Munster Law.
If you don't believe me, ask my understanding wife. She's either been super understanding or super kind. Either way, I don't dance.
The nominations for the "60th Primetime Emmy Awards" provided the usual mix of the obvious and the obscure. That was certainly the case in the brand new Outstanding Host for a Reality-Competition Program category.
Ryan Seacrest, the talking stick of "American Idol" was among the nominees. Really? Seacrest? This is a guy who does nothing more than fumble through introductions and snipe at the show's judges. He only got nominated because "American Idol" is such a television force.
The "Scrubs" secret is finally revealed (not really)
Last year, when it looked like "Scrubs" was coming to an end on NBC, executive producer Bill Lawrence made a promise. He swore that before the series came to an end he would reveal the name of the character played by Neil Flynn. Flynn has only been known as Janitor since the comedy series launched.
The reveal never happened. ABC stepped up and ordered at least one more season of "Scrubs." Those new episodes will begin airing in the fall. And so it looked like the Janitor's real name would remain a secret.
That changed Wednesday. Flynn and the "Scrubs" gang showed up at the Television Critics Association meeting to talk about the move to ABC. That's when Flynn revealed his character's real name.
Bonnie Hunt made a trip to Reedley before she started work on a script for the 2003 feature film 'Cheaper by the Dozen." Hunt plays the mom in the light comedy. The trek to the little community in Fresno's shadow was to meet with Ernestine Gilbreth Carey. She was the author of the book that had already spawned one film version.
"She was a lovely lady," Hunt says during an interview earlier today after a session of the Television Critics Association press tour to discuss her new talk show. That's right, Hunt is leaping into the television genre that has resulted in more failures than successes.
The trip to Reedley ended up being helpful but not helpful enough.
It took 16 years before Matt Groening and all of the talent behind "The Simpsons" decided it was time to do a big screen version of the yellow-hued family. Then it took four years of work to create the feature film that was released last year.
The film was a success. So when Matt Groening showed up at the Television Critics Association meeting, going on at this moment in Los Angeles, it was a good opportunity to ask him if there was a chance a second movie would be made.
Groening says "probably," but don't look for it anytime soon. You will just have to be content with the small screen version for now.
When a second film is made, Groening promises he won't follow the current trend with film animation.
There is always one television series that catches the attention of television critics when they come together in Los Angeles to preview an upcoming season. The Fox drama "Fringe" had the most buzz even before the Television Critics Association meetings started a few days ago.
Makes sense. J.J. Abrams, the man behind the mind-testing "Lost" and the even more mind-testing "Alias" is an executive producer of the series. If the new series, slated to air at 9 p.m. Tuesdays, is half as interesting as "Lost," then Fox will have another hit.
It usually takes a few days before a real verbal battle breaks out at the Television Critics Association tour. But sooner or later, a war of words will break out between the TV critics, including yours truly, who are in Los Angeles to preview the fall season and interview the talent.
Fox News nchor Chris Wallace threw the first punch. He took offense that Fox contributor Karl Rove had been the focus of numerous questions other than what is it like to work for the Fox Network. Call me silly, but if you ignore a subpoena from Congress, that's going to draw some attention.
Wallace had finally heard enough Tuesday and fired off "I think there is a double standard in the
questions that particularly Karl is being asked here. I don't understand. Maybe somebody can
explain to me why it is that if Congress and the White House are having a fight in executive power
that that should in any way constrain an independent news organization's decision as to who
it's going to have on its payroll and who it's going to talk to."
.Wallace always has shown a great grasp of the news. Could he really be stunned Rove was being grilled?
If you are reading this blog then you probably aren’t average. Of course that usually goes without saying. But now there are actual facts to support this. A.C. Nielsen Media Research, those guys who count TV viewers, have just revealed some interesting statistics.
They say the average American watched 127 1/4 hours of television in May. That was an increase from a year ago when average Americans watched 121 hours and 48 minutes in May.
It adds up to being more than four hours a day of TV watching. If you count eight hours for sleep, nine hours for work, an hour for meals, an hour for personal matters (and you know what I am talking about), that leaves only five hours in the day. So the average American has less than an hour for family, friends and reading blogs.
What as a society did we do to deserve such punishment? Sure we waste fuel. We are often so absorbed in a meaningless cell phone conversation we forget the rest of the world. Don’t get me started on the people at the checkout stand who spend 10 minutes finding that dollar they hid in their wallet just so they can pay their bill.
Those are all terrible things. But those things aren’t really bad enough to deserve the plague that is going to rain down on us starting Sunday. Bring in the farm animals. Store extra food and water in a safe place. Get your affairs in order. “Big Brother” is coming back.
Here’s a question to ponder. What is it that bloggers and organized crime killers have in common? They are both judged by the number of hits they can accumulate.
It is an interesting concept. If a person writes for a newspaper, they know how many papers are sold. But there is little way to tell if the person who read the newspaper ever stopped on that reporter’s story.
The Internet answers that question in the minds of many. The more people who read the blog, as measured by hits and comments, the better. But, can the number of blog hits be artificially manufactured?
After seeing “The Dark Knight” and “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” this weekend it seemed very clear that the stars of the upcoming movies would be perfect guests for Dr. Phil. It is not unusual for stars of movies to make the talk show rounds to promote their movie. So why not take advantage of Dr. Phil’s show?
Imagine Dr. Phil opening the show with the announcement, “Today’s guests have what I like to call old-fashioned problems. My first guest is that crimson-skinned star of ‘Hellboy II,’ It is Hellboy himself. Joining him is the trickster of Gotham City. The man with the fashion sense of Prince. Put you hands together for The Joker.”
The Walt Disney Studios dominated the world of animation during the decades following the 1937 release of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” Every other studio knew the best it could do was second place. Walt Disney’s ability to use the latest technologies to producing staggering pieces of film art was nothing short of genius.
Now it is John Lasseter and his team at Pixar showing true genius. Not since Walt Disney has there been such force in a film genre. Anyone else trying to do computer animation might as well settle for second place.
Pixar’s “WALL-E” is the latest example of the magic of Pixar.
Here he comes to save the day. There was a time when super heroes beat up bank robbers, stopped trains from crashing and even saved a few lives. This is the 21st Century. The help a super hero provides these days is a little more practical.
In connection with the release of the Will Smith super hero feature film “Hancock” on July 2, Columbia Pictures has launched a contest. The winner will get their home mortgage paid off faster than a speeding bullet. Hancock, a hero from a distant planet can bend steel deals in his bare hands.
Look. Up in the sky. It is a high mortgage rate. It is staggering closing costs. No. It is Hancock.
California Adventure has been the New Coke of theme Parks. Sure, you would buy New Coke if it was cheap. But how many people really preferred the knockoff to the real thing. Since California Adventure opened in 2001, it has been an anemic partner to Disneyland.
Except for Tower of Terror, California Screamin’ and Soarin’ Over California, the only great thing about the park was it was never as busy as Disneyland. Just pop in the park during Disneyland peak hours and you could always find an open attraction or place to eat.
John Wallace is no longer working at KGPE, Channel 47. His contract wasn’t renewed, says Tom Long, acting general manager of the station. Long added Wallace’s last day was today.
The station has not wasted anytime in an effort to make Wallace a distant memory. The photo and information about Wallace has already been deleted from the KGPE Web site.
Wallace began his broadcast career in Fresno in 1969 when he joined the news staff at KYNO radio. In 1975, Wallace became a television news anchor at KFSN, Channel 30. In 1987, he joined KJEO (now KGPE) to anchor the station’s evening news.
He left that job in 2001 to spend more time in community work and politics. Four years later Wallace was lured back to the station to co-host the KGPE morning show with Kathryn Herr. Wallace has continued to do community work. He currently is the Bulldogs Foundation Fund Drive president.
Mornings never seemed to be the right fit for the veteran news anchor. And his years of local work did not give the show a ratings spike. In fact, the morning show for the CBS station continues to struggle to find viewers.
As for the future of the KGPE morning show, Long says there will be a program Friday morning. He would not comment on who would be anchoring the program.
TV critics honor "Mad Men," "John Adams"
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