PASADENA, Calif.–Today’s FX Networks TCA press tour sessions flew by as usual. It was packed with great sessions from FX president John Landgraf, Man Seeking Woman star Jay Baruchel, Denis Leary, Billy Crystal, Danny DeVito, Louis CK, Matthew Rhys, Keri Russell, Timothy Oliphant and Graham Yost. There was also the giant distraction of an NFL playoff
PASADENA, Calif.–On these TCA press tours, I always look forward to hanging with my old pal Marc Berman from TVMedia Insights. Marc carries more TV trivia in his head than a busload of network executives. He also has a better handle on ratings than anybody else on tour. Earlier this press tour we got together
PASADENA, Calif.–I was sitting through a TCA session on the upcoming Fox drama Wayward Pines when the news reached my Twitter feed: Don Harron had died. There had been word he was not in good health. Harron was 90. I probably first discovered him on Hee Haw. The creators of that show were Canadian, Frank
BURBANK, Calif.–Thursday night, critics took a trip over to Mr. Lorre’s neighbourhood. That would be on the Warner Bros. Studio lot, where sitcom King Chuck Lorre produces four CBS sitcoms: The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men, Mike & Molly and Mom. The sitcoms make, like, a bazillion dollars for the studio as
PASADENA, Calif.–The very first Super Bowl was played in Los Angeles on Jan. 15, 1967. Al MIchaels was there, in the stands, with his brother. It was easy to get tickets, he says. “There was about 35,000 empty seats.” Forty-eight years later, to the day, Michaels was at press tour Thursday to promote NBC’s coverage
PASADENA, Calif.–Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I took Oxygen up on their challenge to ditch my lap top for a canvas and some spray cans. The NBC-Universal-owned U.S. cable channel turned the terrace at the Langham hotel into an art studio Thursday. Tarps were spead across the floor and several easels were set
PASADENA, Calif.–At 8:30 on the dot, the ABC-hired security personnel formed a line and started sweeping reporters and TV stars out of the ballroom. Party’s over. We’d seen this last year–but 8:30? “Don’t they know we’re talent?” said one of the ABC stars. The beefy ex-cops in the dark blue jackets were just following orders from ABC/Disney.
PASADENA, Calif.–Things that sound dirty on the TCA press tour but aren’t: “Would anyone like to touch my clanger?” This from Sandy Wax, president of the NBC-Universal-owned kiddie cable station Sprout. Sprout is a 24-hour network for preschoolers–because, as we all know, preschoolers just aren’t watching enough television. She was waving about one of her