Despite the fact that it is the middle of summer, there was plenty of hockey talk on the TCA press tour. A lot of it came out of the session for ABC’s The Forgotten. Executive producer and hockey nut Jerry Bruckheimer let slip that he cast Christian Slatter in the drama after a post game dressing room encounter with Slatter’s agent. Read the whole story here in the piece I filed for The Canadian Press.
Bruckheimer plays hockey once or twice a week and it seems to be working for the 63-year-old, who is in much better shape than most TV critics. I chased him out into the hall after the session and asked if he’d consider a scrimmage against Canadian TV critics one of these press tours. “You guys would be too good for us,” said the Hollywood smoothie.
One guy who doesn’t play hockey is Shaquille O’Neal. The enormous NBA superstar was easy to spot at the ABC press tour party. I extended my arm as far as I could to hold my digital recorder up to his face.
O’Neal’s ABC summer series Shaq Vs. starts next week. The show pits O’Neal against superstars in a variety of sports: Ben Roethlisberger in football, Oscar De La Hoya in boxing and Michael Phelps in the pool.
“I don’t know how to play hockey, bro,” Shaq told me when I asked if he’d be facing off opposite Sidney Crosby. “Maybe next year.”
Besides, says Shaq, try finding size 23 skates.
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