Cynthia Littleton On The Air

TCA: A fortnight of frothing

Nothing says TCA like stars in awkward situations. (See pic at left of "House" star Hugh Laurie in a bumper car at Fox's TCA party on the Santa Monica pier last summer.)

Yep, the Television Critics Assn. summer press tour is upon us, starting Tuesday at the Beverly Hilton hotel. The January TCA gathering was scuttled by the writers strike, so undoubtedly there will be pent-up excitement (agitation? irritation? ultra-obnoxious lines of questioning?) than usual among the scribes, execs and stars who make TCA go 'round.

As we did last year, On the Air will offer team coverage of this fortnight of frothing about shows to come and the strike-interrupted season that just was, and any other issues that crop up between Tuesday and July 22. Variety's Stuart Levine plans to park himself at the BevHilton for the duration, while our TV leader, Michael Schneider, reporter Daniel Frankel and myself will also be availing ourselves of the hotel's free Wi-Fi to cover the events...and drink. I'm guessing it's a safe bet that the tradition of TCA bingo (in which attendees track the over-use of buzz words by panelists) will include the phrase "writers strike" this year.

It all starts Tuesday with a heavy rotation of cable presentations, including Hallmark Channel, HD Net, BBC America and E! nets.

Wednesday's lineup includes: AMC and WE; MTV Networks; A&E Networks

Thursday: Discovery Networks; ESPN; Sundance Channel; HBO

Friday: Turner Broadcasting; Fox Reality Channel; Starz; Lifetime

Saturday-Sunday: PBS -- whose talent roster includes none other than Sir George Martin, plugging his series "On Record: The Soundtrack of Our Lives."

Emmy's top 10 finalists for the comedy and drama series kudo

Hot off the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences nomination vote-tallying machine, here are the top 10 finalists for Emmy noms in the comedy and drama series heats. The final noms will be announced on Thursday, July 17.

(My 2 cents on the list follows after the jump)

COMEDY

Curb Your Enthusiasm
Entourage
Family Guy
Flight of the Conchords
The Office
Pushing Daisies
30 Rock
Two and a Half Men
Ugly Betty
Weeds

DRAMA

Boston Legal
Damages
Dexter
Friday Night Lights
Grey’s Anatomy
House
Lost
Mad Men
The Tudors
The Wire

TV Academy Honors: Stats, a standing ovation and 'two emperors and the pope'

Almost every acceptance speech at Thursday's inaugural Television Academy Honors dinner started with a statistic: The rise of HIV infection among teenagers; the number of severely wounded soldiers returning from Iraq; the rate of cancer in people under 40; the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease among the elderly.

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' newest kudo (not to be confused with a new Emmy category) aims to honor "television with a conscience." Thursday's gathering at the Beverly Hills Hotel was all about achieving lofty goals and using the electronic soapbox of educate, enlighten, motivate and inform -- but the event itself managed to stay low-key, not too starchy and like a well-produced television program, breezy.  (Dinner at 7, program at 8 and we were grabbing the goodie bags by 9:20. Event producer Phil Gurin deserves a kudo for that.)

TV Academy Honors was the brainchild of ATAS chairman and CEO John Shaffner (pictured in center above with recipients David E. Kelley and Dick Wolf), who explained at the start that he felt it was important for the org that recognizes television excellence via the Emmys to also "honor programs for their humanity and their conscience." Event's debut ceremony was dedicated to the memory of Ronnie Lippin, publicist and wife of longtime ATAS publicity rep Dick Lippin. Ronnie Lippin died of breast cancer last year; the TV Acad Honors idea began as an effort to pay tribute to Ronnie Lippin and her work on behalf of numerous charitable causes.

Inaugural kudos, selected by a 22-member committee co-chaired by Shaffner, went to Discovery-BBC's "Planet Earth"; HBO's "Alive Day Memories: Home from Iraq"; ABC's "Boston Legal"; Lifetime telepic "Girl, Positive" and series "Side Order of Life"; CNN's "God's Warriors"; "Law & Order: SVU" seg "Harm"; Hallmark Hall of Fame/CBS' "Pictures of Hollis Woods"; and Showtime docu "Shame."

The standing ovation of the night went to the half-dozen servicemen and women in the crowd in connection with "Alive Day Memories." Exec producer Dawn Halfaker (pictured at podium), an Army First Lieutenant who lost an arm during her service in Iraq, recalled being shocked when she was approached by HBO's docu maven Sheila Nevins about getting involved with the project. "I didn't think anyone would be interested in my story," Halfaker said. "I'm just a soldier."

This and that: "This American Life" on stage; Aardman's "Timmy" goes solo; Mr. McFeely's back in the 'hood

Call it pay TV, only in a theater. The much-loved Showtime/public radio skein "This American Life," hosted by Ira Glass, will mount a live show on May 1 at NYU's Skirball Center for the Performing Arts that will be beamed out via high-def satcast to more than 300 theaters that are part of National CineMedia Fathom digital network. Event promises to show behind-the-scenes clips, outtakes, and a live audience Q&A with Glass, and it will help tubthump the sophomore season bow of the TV rendition on May 4. For tix or more info click here....

Good news today for Aardman Animations nuts. Disney Channel has licensed a preschooler skein from Aardman, "Timmy," about a cuddly 3-year-old lamb "with a lot to learn." He's based on designs by the great Aardman animator Nick Park, and a character already known to fans of Aardman's "Shaun the Sheep" series. Disney calls "Timmy" to be Aardman's first foray into wee kidvid territory (which seems surprising), but I'm guessing it'll still have those subtle-wacky touches that we love so much in Aardman's "Wallace and Gromit" (Timmy first appeared in the "Wallace and Gromit" short "Wallace and Gromit" in a Close Shave") and "Creature Comforts" et al ....

Speaking of kidvid, those of us who were raised on "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" will be wishing we could be in Pittsburgh on Thursday for the preem of "Speedy Delivery," a docu on the long-running PBS series by helmer-producer Paul Germain. Pic is described as a retrospective on the show through the eyes of David "Mr. McFeely" Newell (pictured left), who played the 'hood's Speedy Delivery postman from the show's inception in 1968. Hard to believe that Fred Rogers, the Presbyterian minister who saw television as his pulpit to spread the gospel of healthy child-rearing (never forget that "Mister Rogers'" is as much designed to teach moms and dads how to cope as it is to entertain kids) has been gone for more than five years. Thankfully, his gentle soul lives on in those 900 segs that should run forever. For more info on "Speedy Delivery," check out the doc's website right here. (Just thinking about "Mister Rogers'" makes me want to put on a sweater and change my shoes.)

Tracey Ullman: My breakfast with the woman of a thousand characters

She was, in a word, lovely. Funny, warm, utterly charming and altogether genuine in her willingness to listen to an unabashed fan do pale imitations of her dead-on impersonations of famous names and everyday folks.

There's nothing quite as nice as meeting someone you've long admired and having that person exceed your expectations for how cool you hoped he or she would be off screen. That, in a nutshell, describes my breakfast with Tracey Ullman a few weeks ago at the Polo Lounge. Even the weather cooperated and allowed us to sit outside on the patio while chatting about her Showtime series "Tracey Ullman's State of the Union," why she took the Lee Greenwood oath and how she happened to grow into her particular comedy niche.

"Suddenly I thought after the last (presidential) election I'd really like to vote," Ullman said of her decision to become a U.S. citizen in December 2006 (she's a dual citizen of the U.S. and Britain). "You just know, somehow. A moment comes when you want to take that next step of becoming an America. So I started studying up."

She did very well on the exam, thank you, and the civics-lesson CD she was handed in preparation for her quiz gave her plenty of material to riff on for a show on her adopted homeland. (And she now does a great heartfelt rendition of Lee Greenwood's ballad "God Bless the U.S.A.")  She's wrapped it all up in a mockumentary format spoofing the earnest PBS-style "Day in the Life of America" docus, with a dash of the vintage British radio program "Down Your Way" for good measure.

"I found the (citizenship) induction ceremony just amazing. There were 5,000 people downtown, and everyone's waving their flags, and they play that Lee Greenwood song to a film...that shows you wheat fields, monster trucks, the moon landing" and of course a big picture of a smiling President Bush, Ullman chuckles. 

"I think it's given me a new voice. It's got me fired up more of what I want to say... I've got more confidence that now they won't take away my green card away if I say things like that," she says.

Edie Falco plants flag at Showtime

Add another feather to Showtime's cap.

The feevee channel has landed Edie Falco as the star of a half-hour single-camera comedy pilot from Lionsgate Television, as Variety's Josef Adalian reports. Falco, who has three Emmys on her mantle from her "Sopranos" run, will play a "strong-willed, iconoclastic New York City nurse juggling the frenzied grind of an urban hospital and an equally challenging personal life," per Showtime's description.

The pilot was written by Liz Brixius, Linda Wallem and Evan Dunsky. Wallem and Brixius will serve as exec producers and showrunners, with Caryn Mandabach also exec producing. Pre-production will begin pronto and the pilot will be shot in Gotham.

Showtime entertainment prexy Robert Greenblatt and Lionsgate TV chief Kevin Beggs could be forgiven for heaping on the adjectives in their statements about the deal. Falco's one of those rare thesps who could read the phone book for 22 minutes and make it compelling.

In this untitled project, Falco's character is described as a nurse who's not afraid to challenge her superiors and take matters into her own hands for the cause of saving lives. Falco noted that the bar for her next TV series was set high by her last one, but she enthused that the character and writing are "truly thrilling."

“To be bringing Edie Falco to Showtime is both a privilege and an honor,” Greenblatt gushed. “She sits firmly in the pantheon of the great actresses of our day, and to have found a show and a great role that meets her standards after six seasons of The Sopranos   is our distinct pleasure and great fortune. Bada bing is all I can think of to say!”

Beggs, who hasn't taken all of the bows he deserves for helping to bring "Mad Men" to life last year after a looooong gestation period, sez Falco's character and the show's setting will allow for "the opportunity to explore the human fallout from our broken medical system in this compelling single camera comedy for Showtime was an incredibly exciting proposition. That we will be doing so with the peerless Edie Falco as our heroine elevated the opportunity exponentially."

Tracey Ullman takes on America

Life is better when Tracey Ullman has a sketch comedy series on the air.

Showtime will oblige starting March 30 with five half-hours of "Tracey Ullman's State of the Union," which promises to feature a calvacade of characters, including Tracey's take on everyone from Arianna Huffington (pictured), Nancy Pelosi, Renee Zellweger and David Beckham. Each seg is described as a satirical look at a day in the life of America. In an election year, we're going to need the wit of this Brit to keep us sane and silly. Can't wait.

Golden Globes: TV noms favor old faves

We should've seen this coming. There's nothing Golden Globes voters like better than big stars in new clothes, and that's what FX served up this year in "Damages."

Legal murder-mystery thriller led the TV noms tally with four Globes chits, one for drama series, for star Glenn Close (pictured left) and costars Ted Danson (pictured right) and Rose Byrne.

It was a given that AMC's "Mad Men" would get some traction this year -- Globes voters rarely snub the buzz -- snaring a bid for best drama series and a richly deserved nod for its handsome star Jon Hamm. Same goes for ABC's "Pushing Daisies," a contender for comedy series and for stars Lee Pace and Anna Friel.

Back to the stars we-know-and-love derby, no surprise that Showtime's "Californication" made a good stand with a bid for best comedy and for star David Duchovny. Donald Sutherland of ABC's "Dirty Sexy Money" made the cut in the supporting drama actor; so did Christina Applegate as lead comedy actress for ABC's "Samantha Who."

And in the spirit of the giving season, there was even a little something in the Globes stocking for 90-year-old Ernest Borgnine (pictured left), a telepic lead actor contender for Hallmark Channel's sweet-'n-sentimental "A Grandpa for Christmas." The last time Borgnine was nommed for a Golden Globe, he won -- for lead actor in 1955's "Marty," in which he played a less-than-handsome guy who's convinced he'll never meet Mrs. Right. (With all due respect to Borgnine, and I do mean all due, he was good in the bigscreen rendition of Paddy Chayefsky's telepic, but it's Rod Steiger in the original TV version of "Marty" who reaches down your throat, rips your heart out, pounds it into mush and then puts it back in just in time for him to find happiness with a young Nancy Marchand.)

"Weeds": Awkward timing for season finale

Yikes, awkward timing for the season finale of "Weeds." Showtime skein's third-season closer involves our favorite gated-community suburbanites fleeing from a raging wildfire. Episode titled "Go" is set to air Nov. 19.

Showtime took pains to note in its listing release issued Wednesday that the segs were shot over the summer, and in no way is the show trying to grandstand on the real-life tragedy that hit so many in Southern California just a few days ago. In fairness to the show, wildfires are  a fact of life in this state, so it's a natural plot point. But now that "Weeds" maven Jenji Kohan and the rest of her scribe team are on strike, show's probably hard-pressed to tweak even a line or two if there's one that hits too close to the recent headlines.

I have to confess to being way behind on my "Weeds" viewing this season, but the season finale synopsis sounds intriguing enough to make me fire up the DVR this weekend and reconnect with our friends in Agrestic. I have to find out why Kevin Nealon's character appears to be getting romantic with his banjo.

(Pictured left, Mary-Louise Parker and Alexander Gould. Pictured right, Kevin Nealon.)

High school musical time for Showtime

Showtime is getting into the high school musical business.

No, not with Zac and Vanessa, et al, but through a feature documentary to be produced with Lionsgate that promises to examine "the cutthroat world of high school musicals in southern Indiana." Pic will focus on the rehearsals, histrionics and hijinks surrounding tuner productions at three schools -- Floyd Central High, New Albany and Jeffersonville -- as students, parents, teachers and even local salons go at it head-to-head in an effort to have their shows selected to participate in the International Thespian Festival. Untitled docu will be produced by Barry Blaustein, producer of the wrestling docu "Beyond the Mat," and Nigel Sinclair, who produced Martin Scorsese's "No Direction Home: Bob Dylan" doc.Lionsgate gets worldwide theatrical distrib rights to the pic, which is expected to bow next year.

Blaustein's promising to capture "all the joy, all the love, all the backstabbing" that surrounds the process.
The southern Indiana setting is kinda close to home for Showtime entertainment chief Robert Greenblatt, who had his own "Waiting for Guffman" moments in high school as the stage manager of variety show and tuner productions at his high school in Rockford, Ill., including "Guys & Dolls," "No No Nanette," "Bye Bye Birdie" and "George M!"

As such, the untitled docu project "really speaks to me," Greenblatt says.

"Tell Me You Love Me": So what happened?

That rumble you might've heard earlier this week eminating from the Westside wasn't the screams of youngsters on the Ferris Wheel at the pier but the folks at HBO's Santa Monica headquarters.

With less than 1 million voyeurs tuning in to the premiere episode of "Tell Me You Love Me," the folks at the pay cabler couldn't have been pleased. Shocked may be a better description.

That's a shame, considering "Tell Me" is a smart and introspective look at four couples (including therapist Jane Alexander and her husband) in the midst of relationship turmoil. And, oh yeah, there's lots of sex, too.

There's lots of ways to interpret the numbers. HBO has always said it's more interested in cumulative viewer totals over the week of repeated viewings than what happens on opening night. And the network also previewed "Tell Me" before Sunday, which means some caught a sneak peak.

But even with all that into account, the numbers have to be disheartening. It was a major drop from the "John From Cincinnati" premiere in June, and that one was considered low. The 5.7 million who tuned in for the first-ever "Deadwood," which preemed in March 2004, seems like a "Seinfeld"-like number now.

Maybe some were turned off by all the explicit sex they had read about in reviews. Who knows?

Adding to the cabler's woes was the lowest-ever premiere for "Curb Your Enthusiasm," which obviously got no help from "Tell Me."

So where does HBO go from here? All they or any network can do is continue to make programs that rise above the common denominator and hope that folks give these shows a chance.

But it's undoubtedly been a tough year over there and hard to keep a stiff upper lip, with the sudden departure of Chris Albrecht and the end of "The Sopranos."

Where HBO once ruled the cable universe, those days are long gone now. Showtime has made huge strides with shows such as "Weeds" and "Dexter," while FX has established itself as the gritty basic cable alternative with skeins like "The Shield," "Damages" and "Nip/Tuck." Even networks that didn't have original drama programming just a few years ago, such as AMC and TBS, are now in the game.

This weekend should help, however. "Sopranos" and James Gandolfini could certainly be coming home with Emmys and "Longford" was a stellar piece of work, as was its star, Jim Broadbent.

HBO's closets are filled with Emmys but what it needs now, more than statues, are hits.

— Stuart Levine

Emmys: Cheap advice from nommed scribes

For anyone who wants to test-drive the experience of being a television writer, Matt Selman has an easy solution.

Get a group of your most sarcastic friends together in a room, preferably windowless, and try to make each other laugh by outdoing one another with a steady stream of the most offensive, sophomoric and vulgar set of jokes and set-ups that you can possibly imagine -- things that could never air on TV, not even pay cable. Add in lots of takeout food and soft drinks and repeat for a few weeks on end. If your heart soars and body tingles every time you make the room snicker, you just might be cut out to be a television writer.

At least that's the quick-and-easy career counseling that Selman (pictured right), an Emmy-winning scribe for "The Simpsons" and co-writer of "The Simpsons Movie," offered Tuesday night during the "Sublime Primetime" dish sesh with a clutch of Emmy-nommed scribes, hosted by the WGA West and Variety at the Writers Guild Theater in BevHills.

"Don't wait for the industry to give you money," Selman instructed. "Take any opportunity to (try writing). The joy of writing is just as fun to do ... if you're on the worst show on television or the best show...Find a group of friends and make each other laugh. Riff off each other. Go on super-offensive runs about degrading subjects."

Mary-Kate Olsen hits "Weeds": Here's the vid clip

Here it comes, the debut of a second actress with a hyphenated Mary- name on Showtime's "Weeds."

As evidenced by this clip kindly provided by Showtime (click right here), former tot-star Mary-Kate Olsen makes her grownup TV debut in the Sept. 17 seg of "Weeds," playing the fundamentalist Christian hottie Tara Lindman in a 10-episode arc --- which basically means the remainder of the Emmy-nominated skein's third season.

The Tara character is, of course, a love interest for Hunter Parrish's Silas (pictured at left with Olsen), the older son of Mary-Louise Parker's drug-dealing soccer mom character, Nancy Botwin. As Tara tells Silas in their first meeting, when he inquires about the hood ornament-size cross hanging around her neck, "I'm tight with the Lord," but she also appreciates the pleasures of smoke. And eye makeup.

"Weeds": It's a Mary-Louise tour de force

What is it about Mary-Louise Parker? What is that hoo-doo she does so well? The third-season opener of Showtime's "Weeds" is a Mary-Louise tour de force of sidelong glances, mischievous grins, heavy sighs and "oh fucks" that bespeaks the weariness of working moms everywhere. Who wouldn't get tired chasing a teenager and a pre-teen boy around all day, keeping tabs on them and trying to make a living all at the same time.

What's always been fun about "Weeds" is that it's a crazy suburban fairy-tale about a sexy-sweet pot-dealing soccer mom. Series creator-exec producer Jenji Kohan was smart to ground "Weeds" from the get-go in the heart-breaking story of a woman who was truly living the dream with a husband she loved madly and two beautiful sons, and then wakes up one day (in the pilot) finding herself a widow and forced to make her own way in the world, and to make enough of a living to maintain the comfortable lifestyle that her family has become accustomed to, or more accurately, the only way of life they've ever known. In the dealing with this smack-in-the-face wakeup call, Parker's Nancy Botwin discovers a very real world far removed from the neatly trimmed lawns and tract houses of planned suburbia.

TCA: 'Californication' dreamin'

POSTED BY STUART LEVINE

The truth is out there, and David Duchovny aims to find it at Showtime.

Five years after "The X-Files" ended its nine-year run, Duchovny returns to the airwaves -- though this time viewers will have to pay to see him -- in "Californication," a half-hour comedy about an author who has serious intimacy problems.

So what brought him back to TV?

"It was the script Tom (Kapinos) wrote, though I didn't think that if you do a pilot, you also have do the show, too," Duchonvy kidded. "I wasn't necessarily looking for a comedy but I was open to it."

Pilot episode has Duchovny character Hank Moody bedding many women while simultaneously trying to be a good father to his daughter, Becca (played by Madeleine Martin, who said of being part of the very adult drama, "I listen to my iPod during table reads").

Nudity and sex is a hot topic at TCA this year, with HBO's "Tell Me You Love Me" also generating headlines for its risque manner of filmmaking.

"It's a family show," clarified creator/exec producer Kapinos said of "Californication," "but a fractured, f---d up family."

Duchovny most recently starred in the bigscreen indie "The T.V. Set," which received generally good reviews. He scored two Emmy noms for "X-FIles," and also has one each for "The Larry Sanders Show" and for a guest spot in "Life With Bonnie." In 1997, he won a Golden Globe for his role as Fox Mulder.

Kapinos says the title comes from the 1970s term that citizens of Oregon used when they were concerned that the high influx of Californians would ruin their state. "This couldn't be set in another state."

When asked if his wife Tea Leoni might find her way into a few of the episodes, Duchovny -- who also acts as an exec producer -- said, ""We've always tried to not work together. It's mostly because she doesn't want to work with me."

Series, which also stars Brit Natascha McElhone, Evan Handler ("Sex and the City") and Madeline Zima, begins Aug. 13.

-- Stuart Levine

TCA: Mary-Kate Olsen ... stoner!

POSTED BY STUART LEVINE

Few celebrities faze grizzled TV critics but it was genuinely weird to see Mary-Kate Olsen on stage as part of the "Weeds" panel during Showtime's three-hour TCA session on Saturday.

The actress, who just turned 21, fielded more questions than star Mary-Louise Parker, though her answers left something to be desired, in most cases. (It didn't go unnoticed by the scribes when Olsen misidentified "Weeds'" fictional setting as "Majestic" sted "Agrestic.") Olsen plays Tara Lindman, whom she described as "a good Christian girl with a twist" and a Bible-loving love interest for Nancy Botwin's older son. When pressed about exactly what kind of Christian she would play (campy, evangelistic, goodie-two-shoes, etc.), "Weeds" creator/exec producer Jenji Kohan filled in the details and confirmed that yes, the character will be seen tugging on the chronic.

"She's comfortable in her Christianity and her drug use," Kohan said.

"Weeds" makes the most mature series by far for Olsen, who reached stardom by starring with her sister, Ashely, in "Full House" from 1987-95. She's also become a film producer and extremely successful businesswoman.

Olsen learned of the role from her agent, auditioned and met with Kohan, who initially had a bit of trepidation about the actress.

"We might have been nervous about her reputation but her performance was wonderful," Kohan said. "We wanted someone good for the part, and we got it."

"I've spent the last year going on auditions, acting and working hard," said Olsen, who seemed a bit stunned by the criics' interest in her being part of the cast. On the difficulty of getting more grown-up roles after a career as a child star, she added: "There will always be my celebrity, but my work speaks for itself."

"Weeds" marks Olsen's first on-screen appearance without Ashley. She was recently cast in Sienna Miller's "Factory Girl," but her part was cut.

The series launches its third season on Aug. 13, and will air 15 episodes, up three from season two.

-- Stuart Levine

TCA: Showtime greenlights Spielberg pilot

POSTED BY STEVEN ZEITCHIK

Showtime is a step closer to airing a series from Steven Spielberg.

Pay net said at TCA Saturday that it has greenlit the pilot for "The United States of Tara," a halfhour comedy about a woman with multiple-personality disorder which is based on a Spielberg idea and is produced by his Dreamworks Television.

Justin Cody will write and Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank will exec produce the show, about an afflicted suburban mother whose personality veers from a Martha Stewart domestic to a male biker to a sex-happy teenage girl. Showtime execs described it as "Weeds" meets "Cybil."

Production on the pilot will begin in the fall.

Project, which had first been reported by Daily Variety (March 15), is still in need of an actor to play the part of the main character.

But Showtime entertainment prexy Robert Greenblatt said in an interview that the net was getting closer to landing the lead, with several theatrical-level stars under consideration.

Greenblatt declined to offer odds on a full series pickup but did hint at its favorable prospects. "It's a lot more likely now that we have the pilot," he said.

--Steven Zeitchik