August 2009 Archives

Today's cuppa: iced raspberry black tea

A shorter version of this story is available in syndication this week, but just because you're special, you get all the Cade Courtley you could want and more. And after the story, a little treat..

Cade Courtley is a Navy SEAL, but he's not playing one on TV in his new series, "Surviving Disaster," premiering Tuesday, Sept. 1, on Spike TV.

He says, "It's not, 'I'm a Navy SEAL, and I'm going to get dropped somewhere, and I'm going to get out.'

"I'll let Bear Grylls (of Discovery Channel's 'Man vs. Wild') do that, and he can drink his pee, and that's his show.

"But we're taking people who might accidentally get in a situation, that don't have 15 years of military experience and training. And we're going to show them, step by step, what they need to do to get out of it."

"Surviving Disaster" uses re-enactments to illustrate catastrophic scenarios that might strike ordinary citizens. Courtley then shares knowledge and demonstrates techniques to help people get through the events alive.

The series launches with an episode about a plane hijacking, and the rest are a mix of human-caused and natural disasters - and it's hard to say which are more terrifying.

"We just finished shooting an episode that we call 'Pandemic,'" says Courtley over lunch in Pasadena, Calif., in early August. "It was (appropriate), considering half the cast got sick the last day of shooting from craft services.

"In the first few minutes, we dealt with a chemical attack. 'What would happen if this happened to you on the subway?' It started with chemical, but the heart of this episode dealt with a biological attack.

"In the chemical attack, you're able to get away from it and scrub down, and hazmat teams were there. But what if Patient Zero had been injected with something and didn't even know it?"

The show tracks the pandemic over months, as the spread devastates the population and causes survivors to huddle in isolated groups to prevent further infection.

Says Courtley, "I was asked, 'Which one of these (scenarios) seems scariest to you?' It's definitely the pandemic. It's the enemy I can't see.

"You could be the most physically fit, in the best shape of your life, and you still have just as much chance of getting struck down."

Of course, anyone stuck in an emergency situation would like to have a Navy SEAL on hand, but in "Surviving Disaster," it's a mixed blessing.

"The joke is," Courtley says, "every time Cade shows up, these people are getting ready to have the worst day of their lives, because it's never one thing. It's compounding things in these episodes.

"The one that we shot in Montana starts off as snowboarders and skiers that go backcountry and get involved in a whiteout, so they're stuck. Then one of them falls off of a cliff and breaks his leg. Then they have to get him into a snow cave.

"Then they get attacked by a bear. It's the worst-case scenario."

Even if there wasn't a bear involved, Courtley would be thrilled to hear that he saved a life.

"To get an email here and there," he says, "in a couple of months, from somebody who says, 'Hey, you know, I watched the show, and I did that and made it out,' or 'My family made it out,' just one of those emails would be enough for me.

"You don't want to create a hyper-vigilant attitude. You don't want people to walk around freaking out, with a thousand pounds of ammunition in the basement, to be smart, be prepared.

"You don't want to live scared, but to be prepared is good, too."

After interviewing Courtley, I visited him and the crew on location in Inglewood, Calif., while they were shooting an episode called "Earthquake" (where I took the pic of Courtley above). I was hoping to see the crew drop a power pole on an SUV, but had to head out before the stunt was staged. But, Spike was kind enough to send a few pix...

Tonight's cuppa: iced green tea with mint -- it's hot in L.A.!

Tonight's cuppa: decaf Irish breakfast tea

On Sunday, Aug. 30, National Geographic Channel premieres a special called "'The Human Family Tree," which looks at how genetic testing is allowing scientists to trace human migration patterns over thousands of years, all the way back to humanity's origins in Africa (which, in case your mind drifts, the special repeats about 15 or so times).

If you visit the homepage, you can even find out how to test your own DNA -- the maternal lineage for women, and the maternal or paternal lineage for men.

Check out this cool migration map (double-click for a larger view):



I found out that I'm part of Haplogroup T (mitochondrial DNA), which originated around the Fertile Crescent and then spread to Europe.

However, I'm not Haplogroup J, as I said on the radio on Thursday.

I got confused because, according to what I had read in Wikipedia, T was part of JT, which also spawned J. So all those Haplogroup J relations bombarding me with requests for cash, back off! You're not coming to the HapT reunion picnic (it's a big bunch, so the hot rumor is that we're renting Monaco for the day).

Wikipedia also says HapTs are agriculturalists, which may explain why I can't stop growing plants on my balcony no matter how many times pests, Santa Ana winds and the brutal sun of the Los Angeles summer kill them. Bird's gotta fly, fish gotta swim, HapTs gotta plant!

Anyway, I did an email Q&A with population geneticist Spencer Wells, who's featured in the special. And away we go ...

Q: I passed the info to my mother, who does genealogy, and it didn't mean a great deal to her, because it's so generalized. How can you make information like this more relevant to people?

A: Well, your results reveal your deep ancestry along a single line of direct descent (paternal or maternal) and show the migration paths your ancestors followed thousands of years ago.  We pick up where genealogy leaves off -- in that we go much further back!  We test for ancestral lineages and their associated migrations on an anthropological timescale, meaning they provide a window back hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands of years ago.  The genetic markers we study place everyone on the greater human family tree, rather than the smaller family tree we are generally more familiar with. Your individual results may confirm your expectations of what you believe your deep ancestry to be, or you may be surprised to learn a new story about your genetic background.

Q: Which results have surprised you most in your study, and which confirmed what you already believed to be true?

A: I'm still blown away by how recently our species emerged from Africa -- only in the past 60,000 years.  It's the blink of an eye in an evolutionary sense, and underscores how superficial all of our differences really are.  We're all basically African cousins.

Q: How can women trace their paternal ancestors?

 

A: Females do not possess a Y chromosome, and therefore may only have the mitochondrial DNA test performed (which traces their maternal lineage). However, if you are a female and would like to learn about your paternal lineage, then a male relative--such as a father, a brother, or a paternal blood relative of your father's, such as his brother--can test his Y-chromosome DNA. The results will reveal a female's paternal lineage.

 

Q: Are other scientific specialties - such as anthropology, archaeology or sociology - able to make use of what you have learned about human migratory patterns?

A:  We hope they are all able to apply our research as we have studied and pulled from each of those fields to provide context for the genetic results.
 
Q: What do you most hope people will take away from the project?

A:  That there literally is a single human family tree, and we're all carrying part of the story inside ourselves. Our human species reflects a mixture of ethnic backgrounds and cultural traditions. In a place like Queens, New York, more than half the population is foreign-born, and there are more than 150 different languages spoken there.  As we showed in the film, the diversity we see there represents a microcosm of the world.  Yet when we test their genetic data, we learn that they - like all humans - are 99.9% similar.   We hope viewers of the film take away that there literally is a single human family tree, and we're all carrying part of the story inside ourselves.

Q: What's the next step for your research?

 

A: We anticipate publications from the analysis of this data will continue for several years into the future.

This afternoon's cuppa: Gevalia Hazelnut cappuccino

Here's my syndicated feature story this week on a big milestone for pro wrestling...

"At the end of the day, when the cheering stops, you want to end up in a good place." Triple H

Triple H reflects on 'WrestleMania 25' and the future

Those who saw the critically acclaimed 2008 feature film "The Wrestler" saw a less glamorous aspect of the multimillion-dollar pro-wrestling industry.
For every wrestler who makes it to the WWE spotlight, there are dozens, perhaps hundreds, who never made it that far and toil in the sport's lower echelons, and many more who were once stars and have now fallen from the heights because of age, injury or other issues.
Actor Mickey Rourke's Randy "The Ram" Robinson character in "The Wrestler" is more than a decade past his prime, scratching out a living in New Jersey working at odd jobs, signing autographs and competing on weekends in independent matches.
But it doesn't have to be that way.
On Saturday, Aug. 29, at 9 p.m. ET/PT, NBC premieres a one-hour version of the four-hour pay-per-view "WrestleMania 25" extravaganza, called "The 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania."
If "WrestleMania 25" participant and "WWE Raw" wrestler Triple H (real name Paul Michael Levesque) has anything to say about it, he and his fellow wrestlers will end their careers in reasonably good physical shape and with money in the bank.
"That movie accurately portrayed our business," he says, "a very small facet of it. Here's a guy who was on a big level at one time, but is no longer doing it, scraping to get by but can't let go.
"It's no different from the music business or the actor in local community theater who can't admit the fact that maybe the dream is past. It happens in every walk of life."
Another issue raised in the movie is the use of steroids and other drugs to bulk up physiques and improve performance.
Says Triple H (who is also the son-in-law of WWE honcho Vince McMahon), "We have a very strong wellness program, which encompasses very stringent, random drug testing. We're tested for all anabolic steroids, any kind of performance-enhancing substances. We're also tested very rigorously for recreational drugs.
"But we also have -- which even a lot of sports organizations don't have -- a true wellness program, because it not only encompasses those things, but twice a year we have very rigorous cardiac testing."
After all, pro wrestling is theater, and fans want to see their favorites in the ring as often and for as long as possible. But as with any physical occupation, the candle burns twice as bright but half as long.
"It's like being in the NFL," Triple H says. "The career span is not necessarily the longest. We have financial planning for guys. We have been helping them to have a normal life. Once you're out of the spotlight, how do you go back to being a normal guy? Do you still have money left?
"We offer that to all our talent that are current, and we also have programs for talent that have worked for us in the past."
As to whether "The Wrestler" should be required viewing, Triple H says, "Well, sure, and hopefully it did smarten some of them up. But it's not how much you make; it's how much you save. At the end of the day, when the cheering stops, you want to end up in a good place."
Of course, as in any facet of entertainment, long-term success can depend on intangibles.
"It's the charisma thing," Triple H says. "That's what really draws people into our business. It doesn't matter if a guy is 7 foot or 5 foot, doesn't matter if he's 300 pounds of muscle or 300 pounds of fat. It's about having charisma.
"Mick Foley wrestled with us for years and was a No. 1 best-selling author and all those things. I don't think Mick ever lifted a weight in his life if it wasn't attached to food.
"He's in terrible shape, but he's one of the biggest stars we ever had."
Also, to have a long career in pro wresting, you shouldn't actually punch out somebody unless you plan on paying the price. In "WrestleMania 25," Rourke jumped in the ring and hit wrestler Chris Jericho. Despite fight training as an actor, he left a little the worse for wear.
"Mickey wanted to be there," Triple H says. "Then at the end of the match, as only the WWE can do, we got him involved, and he knocked out Chris Jericho.
"There's a very fine line between punching somebody with intent to physically hurt them, and then something just strong enough to really look good but not to physically harm anybody. I believe Mickey broke his hand. He hit Chris on the top of his head or something and broke his hand.
"But 'WrestleMania' was a very exciting event for us, and Mickey was a big part of it."

Today's cuppa: Darjeeling tea

Click here for my regular Thursday appearance on Shaun Daily's TV Talk show on BlogTalkRadio.com. We talk set visits, including my recent one to "Amazing Race" HQ and a future one to CBS' new medical drama "Three Rivers," starring former "Moonlight" lead Alex O'Loughlin.

Took a bunch of pix at ARHQ -- here's a tease... stuff on the floor of executive producer Bertram Van Munster's office (including props and a Directors Guild Award) ...

Today's cuppa: English afternoon tea

Writer/producer Peter Murrieta left the world of network sitcoms behind for a Disney Channel sitcom, and it's been coming up mouse ears ever since. After two successful seasons, his "Wizards of Waverly Place" got the go-ahead to do a TV movie, shot on location in Puerto Rico.

The imaginatively titled "Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie" airs Friday, Aug. 28 on Disney Channel.

Murrieta took a break from writing the show to write some answers to questions about the movie and its rising teen acting and music star, Selena Gomez (who's now on Twitter).

Q: Where did the idea of doing a movie originate?

A: With the success of the 'Wizards' series, Disney came to us with the idea of a movie, to take our characters on an adventure we couldn't do on our soundstage.

Q: Why film in San Juan, Puerto Rico?

A: We wanted to take the family on an adventure, and Disney had shot there before, so they knew the crew and production people.

Q: How did you pick the song for Selena Gomez to record, and will her music be integrated into the series?

A: With Selena signed to Hollywood Records, they have been working hand-in-hand with her. We got to listen to early demos of her songs, and everyone liked the ones we used in the movie.

Q: Might this movie lead to a feature-film spin-off?

A: If enough people watch, you never know ... please watch ... I'm not begging, I'm just saying. It's a fun movie, and you'll like it.

Q: Can folks who've never seen the series still enjoy the movie?

A: Absolutely. We set up all you need to know in the first 10 minutes, and then it's off to the races.

Q: Will any plot elements from the movie find their way into the new season?

A: With the end of the movie, all the characters will be taking the Wizard Competition more seriously. Also know that I'm watching a cut of an episode with my editor and answering these questions, trying desperately not to look at my fingers on the keys ... how am I doing so far?

Q: What's the biggest advantage of doing a sitcom for Disney?

A: The biggest advantage is that Disney, once it believes in a concept, gives you the time and episodes ordered to find it and hone it. It's also awesome to have fans that are so invested and interested. They pick up on details that are amazing, like how many times we reference Capt. Jim Bob Sherwood, how often we break the lamp at the top of the stairs, etc.

Q: What hints can you share about the new season?

A: Harper moves in with the Russos for good. Justin becomes a Monster Hunter, and Alex tries her best to take the Wizard Competition seriously, for the first time.

Q: Do you still have the black police cruiser in your garage? (Murrieta is a bit of a car guy, not quite on a Jay Leno level, but he's working on it.)

A: Oh, you know I do. I've added a 1964 Lincoln Continental and a Plymouth Hot Rod to boot. and I've still got my comedy theater, Big Bang Comedy Theater, www.bandstudio.com, too.

 

 

 

We just switched from Typepad to Movable Type, and the blog looks a bit odd. But it's all there and near as I can tell, all the links work. After all, a Hot Cuppa in a chipped mug is still a Hot Cuppa! Eager to see what this post looks like and all the rest.

Hmmm...wait a minute, let's try an experiment.

Here's the present I just got from Fox's "Bones"... if you're a fan, you'll understand the meaning. If not, well, go find a "Bones" fan to explain it to you...or just click here.

Today's cuppa: decaf Mystic Monk coffee

Kara Cooney is a striking, six-foot-tall Irish/Italian-American brunette with a quick wit and an odd fascination with things that would bore the pants off of many young women.

"I love anything old and dead," she says. "I have always loved anything old and dead ... but Egypt just had this special quality. I've been doing this since 1994, when I started graduate school, and I have not been disappointed yet.

"It's an incredibly powerful culture and an incredibly innovative culture. I'm still waiting to be disappointed. There are still moments where I go, 'Oh, my God.'

"I'm not bored."

Since Dr. Cooney is an archaeologist based at UCLA, this all worked out in her favor.

On Monday, Aug. 24, Cooney begins a quest to make us understand why we should all be just as jazzed about Egypt as she is, in her new Discovery Channel series "Out of Egypt."

In each of the six episodes, Cooney begins in Egypt, where she asks a question that then takes her on a globe-spanning quest to find connections among disparate cultures.

"Everything starts in Egypt, right?" she says. "You bring up a question. It starts in Egypt, but the idea was to make as many connections between people, humanity, as you possibly could, and to show how, once you build up a similar system --- i.e. a complex society based on kingship or the inequality of people and rich and poor and exploitation and taxation and bureaucracy --- once you do that, then the solutions people come up with, even though they're completely unconnected, are very, very similar.

"So that was super-fun for me, to be able to go into a Hindu temple and see the connections to Ancient Egyptian polytheism. That was insane. It was wonderful."

And because she's out of her comfort zone, Cooney doesn't just have to answer questions, she can also ask them.

"The thing is," she says, "by leaving Egypt, I'm able to ask stupid questions that I would not be able to ask in any other context.

"So, in Egypt, I can be the expert -- 'This is this, and that is that, and this is how it works' -- but when I go to Sri Lanka, I can say to my expert, 'OK, what the hell is going on here? Will you please explain it to me?'

"And it's still cool."

With so many things in modern society referring back the Classical antiquity of Greece and Rome -- from using names of their gods to using Greek and Latin in such areas as science and faith -- what is it about more ancient, more alien Egypt that appeals to the modern mind?

"But that's all influenced by Egypt," Cooney says of the Greco-Roman world. "People forget.

"This is what I think about why it is that Egypt sparks something in people right off the bat. OK, take it from the other end. If you look at something Mayan, and you look at the artwork, you go, 'OK, where's the jaguar? OK, now, wait...and the king. OK, I see it.'

"It takes a while to understand what it is, because it's so stylized, it's so schematic.

"Egyptian art is very intuitive. The iconography and the hieroglyphic-ness of it is so mysterious to somebody who doesn't understand it, it draws you in and makes you want to know more.

"It's intuitive in that you understand the scene right off the bat. Everything's recognizable; everything's very clear. Yet, all of the little details -- 'What's he holding? What's that here? Why is she wearing that? What does that headdress mean that's different from all the other headdresses?' Then people want to decode it.

"And it doesn't hurt that a lot of it's made of gold."

Then there's the whole mummy thing.

"Automatically," Cooney says, "we, as Americans, inherently value what the Ancient Egyptians valued -- power, money. And we're attracted to the death aspect, because we completely ignore death and hide it away.

"So, how many times in a museum do you see the kids smooshing their face up against the glass to look at the dead body and get as close to it as they possibly could?"

Today's cuppa: Decaf Mystic Monk coffee, medium roast

Here's my syndicated profile of one of ABC's space travelers...

Malik Yoba Is 'Defying Gravity' for ABC

By Kate O'Hare

©Zap2it

As spaceship commander Ted Shaw on ABC's Sunday science-fiction series "Defying Gravity," Malik Yoba is on a tour of the solar system. But for the 41-year-old actor, doing the series was more like time travel than space travel.

"I think every little boy thought about going into space," Yoba says. "As a kid, definitely, I was trying to be Captain Kirk.

"The first time I was on set and put on my spacesuit, I was like a little kid. A 41-year-old man reverts to being 5, because I've got my spacesuit on. I just thought it was the coolest thing."

And getting the job meant he didn't have to strap on a gun and a badge -- again.

"I'd just done a pilot right before this that didn't get picked up," he says. "I was a cop, for the ninth time in my career, and I was over being cops or lawyers. This was different. It was a different kind of thing.

"I read the pilot, and I said, 'I'm in.' "

Yoba also had to flash back on his philosophical past, since his character says he was raised a Buddhist.

"Originally, the character was written Asian, believe it or not," Yoba says. "It was Ted Cho. I wanted them to leave the last name as Cho; I thought that would be kind of cool.

"I did practice Buddhism at some point in my life, so although it didn't come from me, I related to it. There were a couple of scenes where I was able to inject some of my actual understanding of Buddhist principles into the script, so that was very cool.

"I loved that."

Yoba also likes the philosophy in the show's title, saying, "It speaks to a lot that the show will defy. I think it defies categorization, and I think it defies expectation."

 

Birthplace: Bronx, N.Y., on Sept. 17, making him a Virgo.

Movie cred: "Cool Runnings" (1993), "Cop Land" (1997), "Soul Food" (1997), "Ride" (1998), "Dreaming in Black and White" (2002), "Vote for Me" (2003), "Criminal" (2004), "Oh Happy Day" (2004), "Kids in America" (2005), "Slur" (2005), "They're Just My Friends" (2006), "Feel the Noise" (2007), "Rockaway" (2007), "Why Did I Get Married?" (2007 -- and he's working on the sequel).

TV cred: "New York Undercover," "For Your Love," "Trinity," "Bull," "Kingpin," "The Twilight Zone," "The Days," "Arrested Development," "Thief," "That's So Raven," "Raines," "Girlfriends," "CSI: Miami."

 

Favorite book: "I read a lot of books that explore the human condition, whether it's Wayne Dyer or Deepak Chopra or David Deida or Don Miguel Ruiz or Kahlil Gibran. I like books that inform me about the human condition, relationships, psychology, that kind of stuff. I'm very interested in how we relate and connect with each other."

Favorite music: "Some of my favorite music is certainly my own, because I'm actually a musician. I've been recording since January working to finish this project. I'm excited, because I've been a musician forever and haven't had a chance to really do it at the level that I wanted to do it. But two of my favorite artists ever are Bob Marley and Sam Cooke."

Favorite movie: "'West Side Story,' because it did something to me as a kid -- my God. I grew up doing musical theater, and I played Tony in a high-school production of 'West Side Story,' just the magic of that for me. I grew up without television, because my father wouldn't have a television in the house. I remember seeing it at a friend's house and thinking, 'Wow, there's something magical about that.'"

Today's cuppa: iced green tea with peppermint

Click here for my regular Thursday appearance on Shaun Daily's TV Talk radio show on BlogTalkRadio.com (as always, I come in at about the half-hour mark).

We talk about the ratings-challenged Octomom special -- OK, I didn't see it, but that doesn't stop me from having opinions on the Octomom situation -- "America's Got Talent" and more. We also take calls, and I wind up making up TV shows right on the spot. And I tell a Jean-Claude Van Damme story. Can't beat that with a stick.

Tonight's cuppa: Peppermint tea

Just discovered that a trio of my recent video picks has been posted on eGuiders.com, and I couldn't wait to share!

Click here for a send-up of the Washington Post's late, unlamented "Mouthpiece Theater" videos; here for a bizarro take on the Dove soap "Evolution" videos; and here for The Onion's plastering of PETA protests -- and they're not the only ones.

Today's cuppa: PG Tips tea

Today's cuppa: chai spice black tea

On Wednesday, Aug. 19, Syfy's reality hit "Ghost Hunters" returns with the back half of season five. It was still in production as of this writing, but plans are already under way for season six.

Back in 2004, when the show premiered, plumbers Grant Wilson and Jason Hawes had no way of knowing that their evening hobby as the founders of The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS), a group of volunteer researchers probing reports of ghostly activity, would soon take over their entire lives.

"When you're doing it on your own time," Wilson says, calling in from a filming location in Chicago, "if you need a break, you can take it. When you're on a show, you can't necessarily do that.

"So it does wear you out, but I still love it. It was a passion of mine; I had my own fuel for the fire. We always get excited when we pull up to a new case. The fires are burning bright, yeah."

But Wilson still likes to wrap his fingers around a wrench every now and then.

"It's nice when you have some downtime," he says, "and you can get your hands on some pipes and do some plumbing.

"When you meet fans, and they ask you a plumbing question, it's very refreshing, compared to a question with the word 'ghost' in it. A lot of people will throw a joke out there. They'll be like, 'Ha, ha, I have a plumbing question.' And you'll be like, 'Please, ask it!' "

Asked what advice he'd give to an aspiring plumber, Wilson says, "It's recession-free. Everyone wants to make fun of blue-collar people, and it's like, 'Go ahead and try to get through life without them, and see what happens.'

"The motto of a plumber is 'Protecting the health of the nation,' which is true. Think about it; that's the way it is. If your plumbing isn't done right, you've got disease."

Turns out Wilson and Hawes aren't the only guys who've found show-business success and still keep their feet squarely on the ground.

In an upcoming episode, rocker Meat Loaf appears as a guest investigator.

"He was great," Wilson says. "He's just like us. All the stuff that guy's been through, and ht's still just down to earth. He was like a kid in a candy store -- running around, all excited, yelling and crazy.

"He actually tripped and fell and broke one of our cameras, he was so excited."

But there are no plans to search for the ghost of Michael Jackson.

"I think I'll pass on that," Wilson says. "It's funny, the day after he passed away, people are asking us, 'Are you going to Neverland?' 'Whoa! Too soon. Too soon.'"

Today's cuppa: Scottish breakfast tea (with breakfast)

The cast for the ninth cycle of ABC's "Dancing With the Stars," premiering Sept. 21, was announced this morning, and here is a rundown of my gut reactions:

Aaron Carter: He's the younger brother of Backstreet Boy Nick Carter and a pop teen sensation in his own right. Got no opinion on this one, other than he's young and will have boundless energy (and will give pro dancer Derek Hough a run for his money in the floppy-blond-hair category).

Natalie Coughlin: The Olympic swimmer has earned 11 medals, including six in one Olympiad in 2008. She also has a B.A. in psychology, which will likely come in handy in this venue. Also no strong feelings here, except to say that Michael Phelps would have been way funnier.

Mark Dacascos: Known as "The Chairman" and host of Food Network's "Iron Chef America," Dacascos is also a martial artist and actor. He's in his mid-40s, but should be in phenomenal shape. The martial arts may help his power in the paso doble, but could prove a hindrance in the more elegant foxtrot and waltz.

Tom DeLay: Nicknamed "The Hammer" during his stint as House Majority Leader, the former Republican congressman from Texas has had a colorful life, from his high-living bachelor days to his religious conversion to his rise to power in Washington, D.C., to his fall from grace and resignation in 2006. Whether he can reclaim that inner Lone Star State wild man for the Latin dances remains to be seen, but anyone who's spent that much time in Congress has done a quickstep or two.

Macy Gray: The raspy-voiced singer/songwriter is celebrated for her musical ability, but she's not known for flashy on-stage dance routines (have to go to Tina Turner, Janet Jackson or Madonna for that, and wouldn't any of them be awesome on this show?). But she's sure to have an innate musicality, and she's done some acting, so that should be useful in the more dramatic dances.

Ashley Hamilton: The actor/singer-songwriter is the son of former "Dancing With the Stars" competitor George Hamilton and the stepson of rock idol Rod Stewart -- and he was married to Shannen Doherty -- so he knows a bit about dancing, singing and high drama.

Melissa Joan Hart: The "Clarissa Explains It All" and "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" star has two sons, aged three and 17 months, so she'll be juggling the roles of wife, mother and dance novice. But if recent pictures are to be believed, she's not doing "Dancing" to lose that baby weight.

Kathy Ireland: She's a former supermodel turned wife, mom, author, Sunday-school teacher and fashion CEO of kathy ireland Worldwide, along with supporting several non-profit organizations and being a prolific Twitterer. Models historically have done poorly on "DWtS," so Ireland has a chance to prove that to look good is to move good.

Here's a syndicated piece I did for this week with Ryan Brown of Bravo's real-estate-oriented show "Flipping Out." I have more material with Brown, and with assistant extraordinaire Jenni Pulos, so watch this space.

Here's a sip to hold you for now ...

Ryan Brown tries to keep from 'Flipping Out'

 

With his very particular ways and high-energy personality, Los Angeles house flipper Jeff Lewis is the engine driving the Bravo reality series "Flipping Out," which returns for a third season on Monday, Aug. 17.

While Lewis tries to temper his temper to deal with demanding clients as the housing downturn forces him to transition from just flipping houses to also doing remodeling work, his former personal and current business partner, Ryan Brown, who's also an interior designer, is sailing more tranquil waters.

Speaking in his spare, modern office in Hollywood, not far from Paramount Studios, Brown says, "Brown Design has been established for 10 years, so I've had clients for that entire time. My business was split 50/50, part spec and part client, but Jeff 's was completely and totally flipping houses.

"So a big part of this season is going to be watching him get his design business up and running.  He's going through some growing pains right now, trying to sort stuff out."

While Lewis seems to relish being the center of a TV show, that isn't really Brown's favorite thing.

"The first season," he says, "I didn't agree to be part of it until the very, very end, because I was afraid of what I was getting myself into -- or what Jeff was getting me into."

As for dealing with Lewis, Brown says, "People say on the street, 'How do you work with him? He's so crazy.' But the fact of the matter is, he is crazy, but we're all crazy."

Tips:

• Looking to buy? Brown says, "Buyers really do still have a certain degree of the upper hand in price range of under a million, or million-five, right now."

• How much to spend? "Usually the banks want to see, let's just say 30, for round figures, 30 percent of what you're bringing home being spent on your mortgage. Now, obviously, the loans are causing you to put a lot more down, so you have to have that all socked away."

Today's cuppa: PG Tips (still brewing as we speak, but don't worry, it's my second mug)

Today's cuppa: PG Tips tea (that's British, BTW)

Click here for my latest eGuiders.com video recommendation, a comedic vignette from political humorist Steven Crowder, in which he undertakes an epic journey to find out where his -- and every other taxpayer's -- stimulus dollars have wound up. Anyone need a place to dock the yacht?

Tonight's cuppa: decaf Irish breakfast tea, at home, for once

Click here for my regular Thursday appearance on Shaun Daily's TV Talk show on blogtalkradio.com.

I called in via Skype from just outside the lovely Lobby Lounge at the beautiful Langham Huntington Hotel and offered an update on the latest goings-on at the summer edition of the biannual Television Critics Association Press Tour, which concludes tomorrow with ABC.

As always, for live updates from the ballroom -- provided the Russians don't crash Twitter again -- you can follow me at twitter.com/KateOH .

Today's cuppa: Scottish breakfast tea at home, coffee in the hotel

Below find my syndicated feature story on tonight's season premiere of USA's "Psych," which is a hoot. And I just might be home watching it again on the HDTV tonight.

USA

Network still wants to 'Psych' you out

 

By Kate O'Hare

©Zap2it

 

"I just left the mixing stage," says "Psych" creator Steve Franks. "We mixed our season premiere, which is very exciting."

On Friday, Aug. 7, USA Network's faux-psychic comedy-mystery series returns for a fourth season. It's still set in Santa Barbara, Calif., but the season premiere episode is set where the series has always been filmed -- the Canadian province of British Columbia.

Says Franks, "(Producer) Andy Berman and I came up with it while I was directing the sea lion episode last year. We were in the van every day, going to all our sets, and we kept saying, 'OK, We're going to do the British Columbia episode.' "

Guest starring Cary Elwes ("The Princess Bride," picture below and to the right) as an elusive art thief, "Extradition: British Columbia" also allows series stars James Roday, who plays fake psychic and private eye Shawn Spencer, and Dule Hill, who plays his childhood pal and partner Burton "Gus" Guster, to show off their best snow-bunny looks (Hill on the left in the picture above, Roday on the right.)

It was a lot of fun for Franks as well.

"We're sitting there, scouting locations," he says, "and I'm riding the chairlift to the top of Whistler, and I'm like, 'Wow, this is a job I should not be allowed to have.' "

As to what the overall plan is for the year, Franks says, "We're just trying to take what we did last year and build on it. We went a little darker here and there; we got a little more emotional.

"My constant plan, my marching order every year, is to expand the things that we can get away with, on the silly side and on the intense side.

"So, this year we're going to do a Bollywood episode. Oh, yeah."

"Bollywood" refers to the prolific film industry based in Mumbai, India, known for elaborate musical productions. The episode itself is called "Bollywood Homicide."

"I co-wrote it with Anupam Nigam, our Indian writer," Franks says. "I've been telling him for years that I'm going to make him write a Bollywood episode, and it seemed like the perfect time."

According to Franks, Jay Chandrasekhar ("Super Troopers," "Chuck," "Lipstick Jungle") is directing, and he's called on a family member to flesh out the cast.

"We got the guy from 'Heroes,' " says Franks, referring to Sendhil Ramamurthy, who plays Mohinder Suresh on the NBC sci-fi drama.

"He is disturbingly good-looking," Franks says. "But he was great. He's actually one of Jay's cousins. He was the dream guy to get for it, so it worked out very well."

Chandrasekhar, who is also an actor, plays a role in addition to his directing duties in the episode. But the fun doesn't end there.

The theme song for "Psych" is "I Know You Know," performed by the Friendly Indians, Franks' band. It's been reworked for episodes in the past (including a Christmas theme and a Spanish version), and it's getting changed again for "Bollywood Homicide."

"We're doing the theme song in Hindi," Franks says, "which will be even more fun. It's disturbing, because I haven't gotten to the things that I'm going to have to do to sing the song. It scares me, because it was hard enough for me to do the Spanish version.

"And it's all very loose translations of it. It's the same idea. There's no literal translation for the song."

If you think Franks and crew can't top Bollywood, think again. Also in the works is an episode called "Let's Get Hairy," co-written by Roday and set to air in October just before Halloween.

"Guy walks into the Psych office," Franks says, "and says, 'Please don't listen to me, but I think I'm a werewolf,' which will be fun."

And there's still more, with an episode that digs into the past of Shawn's nemesis, Santa Barbara Police Department Detective Carlton Lassiter (Timothy Omundson).

"We're doing a Western this year in the first five episodes," Franks says. "It's called 'High Noon-ish,' and basically Lassiter drags Shawn and Gus out into the middle of the desert.

"Gus is convinced he's finally snapped, and he's going to kill them, and it turns out there's this town where Lassiter has known the sheriff since he was a kid. Some things have been happening in the town, and they think there's somebody trying to sabotage the place and run this guy out.

"The twist is that the town is like Knott's Berry Farm. It's a fake Western town, a tourist trap way beyond its prime."

Playing the sheriff is veteran actor James Brolin, who's there because, as Franks explains, "We're a cool show now. First two seasons, people would say, ' "Psych," what's that? Never heard of that.'

"Last year, they started hearing about it. Now we're getting calls from actors who say, 'Hey, I'd love to do the show.' It's like, 'Oh, my God, I can't believe people have actually heard of us.' "

Today's cuppa: hotel coffee and lots of it

While I slog though the biannual Television Critics Association Press Tour in beautiful Pasadena, Calif., you can take a look at my syndicated feature story on the beginning of the end for USA Network's "Monk" on Friday, Aug. 7 -- tomorrow, we take a similar look at the season premiere for "Psych," which airs the same night.

'Monk,' phobias and all, prepares for the end

 

By Kate O'Hare

©Zap2it

 

On Friday, Aug. 7, the USA Network comedy-mystery series "Monk" returns for its eighth season, which has been announced to be its last. For executive producer and frequent episode director Randy Zisk, it's a bittersweet moment.

"It's sweet and sad at the same point," he says. "I feel like we're going through what the show goes through, which is heart and humor, right now.

"We obviously want to tie up some loose ends, but we also wanted to continue with what's worked so well for us, which is having both heart and humor."

For the past seven seasons, Tony Shalhoub has played Adrian Monk, a former San Francisco Police Department homicide detective who lost his position due to his obsessive-compulsive disorder.

After the unsolved murder of his wife, Trudy, in a car bombing -- a crime possibly aimed at Monk -- he had a nervous breakdown, causing his disorder to worsen and turn him into a recluse.

First with the help of his nurse, Sharona (Bitty Schram) -- the character left during season three -- and now with his assistant, Natalie (Traylor Howard), Monk has been able to re-enter the world and help police Capt. Leland Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine) and Lt. Randy Disher (Jason Gray-Stanford) solve crimes as a private detective.

David Hoberman is the creator of "Monk," and he executive produces with Zisk and writers Andy Breckman and Tom Sharpling.

As to how neat a bow he and his fellow producers wanted to put on the end of Adrian Monk's story, Zisk says, "Not that neat. Andy Breckman created the character with David Hoberman and Tony Shalhoub, and the character has really grown in these eight years, so the one thing that's consistent is his struggles.

"We've got different struggles now, but we definitely want to see a character who still goes through what everybody else in the world goes through. The stories are written in New Jersey, and I don't know -- even Tony doesn't know -- exactly where they're headed."

While "Monk" is shot in Los Angeles (where it headed after a brief sojourn in Toronto), the writing staff is indeed a continent away.

"When I was first told this is how they want to set up the show, I said, 'It'll never work. I don't know how we can have you guys so far away from us.' But in reality, it's worked out because Andy Breckman gives us such room to do what we want on the production side.

"His scripts are always on time, and they're always really great. After directing so many other shows, I realize how lucky we are that the scripts are on time, and not only on time, but I don't know how they keep coming up with ideas."

The final season comprises 16 new episodes, and fans that have been missing Sharona will be happy to hear that she returns for an episode later in the season. Fans may recall that she left to remarry her ex-husband and return to New Jersey with their son.

"I'll be directing," Zisk says. "We're all excited about that. It's all being worked out now. I don't want to say too much, but what I know of it, it's going to be one of the most fun episodes we've ever done.

"We're really excited about it. It's been so great. It's going to be a blast to have her back."

But first, there's the season premiere. As for a hint, Zisk says, "Elizabeth Perkins plays a TV star who was a child star on a TV series that was Monk's favorite show, that he never missed. Now, 30 years later, whatever it is, he runs into her, and there's a crime that he's involved with, and he gets to meet his childhood star.

"It's called 'Mr. Monk's Favorite TV Show.' "

But will the show's most enduring mystery be solved?

"Obviously," Zisk says, "the one case he's never been able to solve is Trudy, his wife. So we'll see what happens with that, but I don't want to say too much.

"Everyone loves the story line with her, bringing her in for a little bit each season, and seeing Monk deal with that. People love to see how he still wears his wedding ring, and how he is still attached to her. There's something so endearing and so sweet about that."

The final episode shoots in October.

Says Zisk, "We've had a great run, and it's going to be very emotional."

The so-called "last" episode of "Scrubs," which didn't even turn out to be the last episode, featured Sprinkles cupcakes on set.

As to whether the real last episode of "Monk" will go in a similar culinary direction, Zisk says, "We'll make sure to have Sprinkles cupcakes. It's been a pretty great run."

Tonight's cuppa: decaf Irish breakfast tea

The highlighted video for Thursday is one of my recent finds, an animated music video which began under the direction of actor Heath Ledger, than had to be completed after his untimely death. Great song, great piece of animation. Click here to take a look.

BTW, in preparation for the season premiere of AMC's "Mad Men" on Aug. 16 (watch this space for some interviewy goodness), the cabler has offered a Website that allows users to create a "Mad Men"-inspired avatar that can be used on Facebook and Twitter.

I couldn't resist giving it a try, and the final result even looks a bit like me -- and it reflecs my love of headbands, a hot cuppa and all things equestrian (the outfit).  The head is also my new Twitter avatar. Take a look: 

Tonight's cuppa: decaf Irish breakfast tea

Today's cuppa: hotel coffee

Taking a break from the TCA Press Tour to give you an update on the new Lifetime Sunday-night show "Drop Dead Diva," which premiered July 12.

It stars Brooke Elliott as Jane, a plus-size, whip-smart attorney with a somewhat atrophied social life that takes a bullet for one of her bosses.

Instead of remaining dead, she becomes the repository for another recently deceased woman, the thin, pretty but not-exactly-a-rocket-scientist Deb, who takes a U-turn in the hereafter and winds up in Jane's body.

She has Deb's memories and personality, combined with elements of Jane's personality, plus Jane's knowledge and smarts.

Unfortunately for Deb, she also has to live in Jane's body and deal with her own attitudes about that, along with the attitudes of those around her.

"Drop Dead Diva" is the creation of Josh Berman, a Los Angeles-area native who's an attorney, a business-school graduate and a Fulbright scholar, whose resume includes "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," his own Fox series, "Vanished," which included elements of secret societies, and a stint on Fox's forensic-mystery series "Bones."

I recently shot Berman some questions, and got back some interesting answers. Check it out...

Q: What inspired you to create the show?

A: My grandmother. She was a short large woman with the spirit of a super model.  She was a holocaust survivor -- only woman in her family to survive.  Yet, she believed she could do anything and she tried to teach her children and grandchildren that they could do anything, as well.

Q: What sort of research did you do to write the pilot, and what are you continuing to do?

A: We have legal researchers on the show.  The same duo that does the forensic research for "CSI" and "Bones."  We like our law stories to be grounded in real cases, but we take liberty in how the cases are adjudicated as everything is through the prism of our lead character, Jane.

Q: Obviously, you're a lawyer, so you're a bit biased, but what does the legal aspect add to the show as a whole?

A: It's a franchise.  It provides the story engine that pushes the series forward.  The themes and characters in the legal stories help inform and motivate our core group of characters.

Q: How did you find Brooke, and what did you love about her?

A: There was a national search for the role of Jane.  We had casting directors in LA (the amazing Susan Edelman) and in New York, executive producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron ("Chicago," "Hairspray") helped in the process.  Brooke is brilliant.  She understands the character and the duality of playing both Jane and Deb.  With Brooke, it was love at first sight.

Q: What does the show have to say to people who may not be overweight?

A: It tells people that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes.  Think twice before you judge someone based on their appearance.  The show is for anyone that's ever felt like an outsider.  At the core, the show is about identity.   It's NOT about being overweight, per se.  It's about feeling like you don't belong.

Q: In particular, what do you hope men take away from it in thinking about the women in their lives?

A: I hope men enjoy the show.  Television is about entertainment and I believe the show is very entertaining.  If men or women learn something by watching, then terrific.

Q: Will secret societies play a role in the show at any point? (OK, you don't HAVE to answer that one if you don't want to).

A: Ha!  We all have secrets, don't we?

Q: Give us a few hints of what's to come ...

A: Liza Minnelli and Delta Burke play psychic sisters.  Have you ever got a better tease than that?

To flesh out that tease ... on the Sept. 20 episode, Minnelli plays a psychic who sues her sister (Burke) for opening a competing psychic shop across the street. Rosie O'Donnell reprises her role as a judge.