Leslie Hope and Elisha Cuthbert were two of the first actors I interviewed for TVGuide.com, back in 2002, during the debut season of a little-show-that-could called 24. Coincidentally, I was slated to talk with each of the "Bauer women" again this week, but one of them "politely passed" at the last minute. The actress I now like a bit more is Ms. Hope, who called me from the set of Runaway, a CW drama debuting Sept. 25, and concerning a family that assumes a new id
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What's an eight-letter word for a star-studded new documentary? Wordplay, going into wide release this Friday, offers a compelling look at Will Shortz, editor of the New York Times' venerable grid, and the annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. Along the way, such famous faces as former President Bill Clinton, Daily Show host Jon Stewart, filmmaker
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Question: What happened to your minute-by-minute diary of the upfronts?
Answer: You're thinking of the Press Tour Diaries. That's in July. But had I blogged Fox's upfront on Thursday, it probably would've looked something like this:
4:00 pm: Could this East Side venue be more out of the way?
4:15 pm: Or crowded?
4:20 pm: Or hot?
4:35 pm: Someone kill me.
4:40 pm: Brad Garrett calls Paula Abdul crazy and Ryan Seacrest gay.
4:50 pm: Make it stop.
5:05 pm: I want to die. Now.
5:15 pm: Am I in hell?
5:17 pm: Sports executives make terrible comedians.
5:25 pm: Maybe the roof will collapse and we can all go home.
5:26 pm: Wow, Spike Feresten is not funny.
5:45 pm: Look! The ad executive behind me is putting a plastic bag over his head!
5:50 pm: Oooh, a
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Reunion. Threshold. E-Ring. Invasion. Emily's Reasons Why Not. Love Monkey. Commander in Chief. Heist.
What do these shows have in common? They all debuted at some point during this soon-to-wrap TV season, yet each saw their run either cut surprisingly short or handicapped by irregular scheduling. Was 2005-06 the worst year ever to sample a new show? Were the networks especially hasty in deciding the fate of freshman series? TVGuide.com consulted a panel of experts with unique points of view to examine this strange little season gone by.
Are New Shows Getting Short Shrift?Jeff Bader, executive vice president of ABC entertainment programming and scheduling, dismisses the suggestion that prime time is a crueler-than-ever proving ground for new series. "
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Big LoveThere comes a point in every new series, one hopes, where it moves from showing potential to actually getting interesting, when you click over from merely being intrigued to feeling something (good or bad) for the characters. I think Big Love hit that mark this week, as we began to see these people fleshed out: Margene as a basically lovable but naive kid, Barbara as a caring person with a bit of a guilty side, and Nicki as a loathsome spendthrift whom I've hated from Day 1. Seeing her prepare for poor little Wayne's party (which was, of course, all about her, not the kid), certainly didn't make me like her any more. (Saddest moment: Wayne asking Barbara if his mother invited any children to his party. Well, that and Rhonda remembering what it was like
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