ANAHEIM, CA–As Richard Stursberg or Stephen McPherson might say, all things must pass. Another summer TCA press tour is in the books. We laughed, we cried, we kissed two weeks goodbye. Once again, Dave Taylor and his AV wizards have managed to pack up a hotel full of state-of-the-art staging and electrical equipment and beat it out of hotel faster than most critics can pack a suitcase.
We leave you with the above vidcast, captured (to the great amusement of fellow critics at the BBC America closing party) with the camera attached to my laptop. Flipcam donations welcome.
Highlights for me was seeing Yoko Ono (tiny in her black suit and hat but as feisty as ever), Robert Conrad (damaged after a severe car crash and years of arrogance but as cocky as ever) and Jimmy Fallon (humble and living his dream). Tom Selleck put on a clinic in professionalism. Steve Buscemi, who is riveting as “Nucky” Thomson in Terry Winter’s engrossing HBO drama Boardwalk Empire seems like a genuine dude (humble and hilarious in the post-session scrum.) Boardwalk Empire, which is set during prohibition in Atlantic City, is a show you won’t want to miss. It premieres on HBO Canada in September.
Had a great sit down–in a hotel hallway–with four of the five Kids in the Hall (on press tour to promote the pickup of Death Comes to Town on IFC). Scott Thompson looks healthy and robust after almost living up to the title of the series. His cancer, he is thrilled to report, has been chased back into remission.
Carrie Fisher, who attended the closing day HBO sessions, was a scream, way funnier than Tracey Morgan who followed. Fisher actually came on stage wearing her Princess Leia wig, which was a trip.
Have banked the usual ton-and-a-half of stories and hope to share some here and across several print platforms in the coming months. The set visit to the Big Brother House needs to be broken down and described because it seems like a I might have dreamt it at this point.
The one big failure of the press tour was ABC’s photo department somehow not posting a shot of Sophia Vergara from the Modern Family back-end-of-the-session-room scrum sessions. Vergara wore a dark blue (probably has a fancier name like midnight blue, or steaming hot Sophia Vergara blue) that seemed painted on her incredible body. The Colombian goddess is 38, has a 19-year-old son and stands right up there in the Carla Gugino press tour appearance Hall of Fame. If anybody at ABC/Disney or any fellow critic has a photo of this vision, please share it. Al Bundy, you lucky bastard.
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