December 2009 Archives

Today's cuppa: Irish breakfast tea

News Corp., which owns Fox Broadcasting Company and several Fox cable channels, and Time Warner Cable are in a financial stand-off that could come to a head just as the ball drops tonight in Times Square.

Although many fervently hope, and some even expect, that all this will be resolved at the last minute, it's very possible that Time Warner Cable customers will lose at least some Fox channels as of 12:01 a.m. tonight.

As detailed here and here and here, the corporations are involved in a price dispute, with News Corp. demanding an increase in the fee TWC pays for retransmitting Fox Broadcasting Company affiliates and some of its cable networks, including FX, Fox Reality and selected Fox Sports channels. So far, TWC has refused, using ads to enlist viewers in its "Roll Over or Get Tough" campaign.

Click here for a brand-new explanation of what's going on. As outlined here, the situation is particularly dire in Florida, where football fans may not be able to see the Sugar Bowl on Friday and the final game of University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow.

Click here for CNBC's video report.

This is probably only one of many fights we're likely to see in upcoming years as the seismic shifts in the media landscape finally hit the relationship between broadcast networks and cable systems. According to a story in the New York Times, Fox has an ally in Walt Disney Company, which owns ABC.

But, consumers have options. Of course, you can switch your provider from Time Warner Cable to one of the satellite services or to something like Verizon FIOS (and no doubt they'd be thrilled to accommodate you, but expect a rush if the blackout occurs).

Not everyone will lose everything, depending on where you live. If you're in one of the major markets where News Corp. owns and operates the local Fox affiliate (like Los Angeles, New York, Dallas, etc.), your local station could disappear. But, you could buy an antenna. That won't help with the cable networks, but it will get you "American Idol," "24" and other broadcast shows.

If you have a standard-definition TV, you're going to need to add in a set-top box to pick up the new digital signals. But if you have an HDTV with a tuner inside, head to your local electronics store for a rooftop or indoor antenna. If you have good reception in your area, you'll be able to see Fox shows in crisp HD.

And, of course, Fox shows will still be available online, including at Hulu.com, but you may have to wait a day.

This dispute may be solved sometime today, but even if it is, it's probably an issue that's going to crop up again as other contracts come to a close. Might be a good idea to keep those options in your back pocket just in case.

UPDATE: Here's a view from Fox News (which is not at stake in this, but obviously has a keen interest) of the dispute as the hour approaches.

UPDATE ON THE UPDATE: The FCC weighs in.

UPDATE ON THE UPDATE OF THE UPDATE: It's now New Year's day in sunny Los Angeles, and in the absence of fresh reports after the wee hours of this morning -- which said the warring parties had agreed to an extension of talks for a short time -- KTTV, Channel 11, the Fox affiliate in Los Angeles, still remains alive and well on my Time Warner Cable system. So there ya go. 

Today's cuppa: Bag Ladies English breakfast tea

Happy: Watching HBO's polygamy drama "Big Love" (which returns Jan. 10), with its complex storytelling, compelling characters (not the least of which is Harry Dean Stanton's reptilian family-compound patriarch) and yet another chance for Bill Paxton to play a character named Bill (see "Twister").

Sad: Realizing that some of the most interesting, three-dimensional and entertaining female characters on TV are in a show about polygamy.

Happy: ABC's "Lost" put an end date on its story and, after a few stumbles, ramped up to a rippin' good season finale. There's a lesson in this for every continuing TV series -- better to leave the party at the appointed time then wind up as the drunk, boring guy by the beer keg who's told all of his stories ... twice.

Sad: Starting Feb. 2, last season of "Lost"! All good things must come to an end, but it's still a tad bittersweet (but I'm pretty sure that Josh Holloway at left, will land on his feet).

Happy: "Friday Night Lights" lives on, time-sharing between DirecTV's The 101 Network and NBC (eventually, at length, when the Peacock gets around to it).

Sad: Since I don't have DirecTV, I have to watch "Friday Night Lights" on my computer until NBC deigns to start showing it, whenever that will be, maybe summer, who the heck knows? Don't get me started.

Happy: Fox proved a little slower on the trigger finger with "Dollhouse" than it did with other unusual shows like "Wonderfalls" and "Firefly."

Sad: Wish the trigger-finger itch had faded in time for "Wonderfalls" and "Firefly," because "Dollhouse" largely squandered the chance.

Happy: Syfy's "Battlestar Galactica" ended well.

Sad: "Battlestar Galatica" ended. (And as for its prequel, "Caprica" -- I just can't shake the "Star Wars" prequel disappointment. I'm not sure I want to see how space operas begin if I know how they end.)

Happy: NBC's "Chuck" ended its season well and, partly through the efforts of fans (and some love for its advertisers, including Subway) earned a new one, starting Jan. 10.

Sad: Scott Bakula not yet booked to return as Chuck's dad. Hey, they're only doing 10 episodes of "Men of a Certain Age," and he's said he'd serve if asked. Let's get with it!

Happy: FX's "Sons of Anarchy" came roaring back as that uncommon show with very few upright or sympathetic characters (although, in this testosterone-soaked saga, the women are especially interesting and surprising), but which makes for consistent must-watch TV. Must be something that creator Kurt Sutter learned over at his previous gig, "The Shield."

Sad: Jay Karnes' evil DEA-guy character (at right), we hardly knew ye. RIP.

Happy:  CBS' "NCIS" continued to be one of the best. shows. ever. And "NCIS: Los Angeles" launched on CBS as a solidly entertaining spin-off -- and I'm now a dedicated fan of the dynamic duo of LL Cool J and Linda Hunt.

Sad: As detailed here, both shows ran bitterly disappointing, jarring and anti-Christian holiday episodes on Dec. 15. Both had good elements (like the bits with Gibbs' dad, played by Ralph Waite), but overall, I hope I never see the likes of them again on either of these shows.

Happy: The CW's  "Supernatural" once again proved that the genre of two hot guys and a really fast car (plus super-cool '70s music) is alive and well, at least in the world of the spirits. 

Sad: Not enough people are watching. I know it's across from CBS' "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and ABC's "Grey's Anatomy," but trust me, the fun, the drama and the Impala are worth the effort to watch.

Happy: There was one comedy on the fall network schedule that I really liked and that made me laugh out loud -- NBC's "Community."

Sad: There was only one comedy on the fall network schedule that I really liked and made me laugh out loud.

Happy: David Tennant has never faltered as the BBC's (and BBC America's and Syfy's) "Doctor Who," and writer Russell Davies did that rarest of things -- reviving an ancient show and making it feel brand-new. And, especially in the new, two-part Christmas episode, "The End of Time," he maintains the show's tradition of finding the most unlikely heroes and reminding us all that just because you're a senior citizen doesn't mean you can't save the world.

Sad: We're coming to the end of Tennant's run as the character, and my suggestions of Idris Elba, Colin Salmon or Dominic West for the new Doctor were not taken.

Happy: Showtime's "The Tudors" continued awesome, with performances worthy of chewing its gorgeous scenery (oh, the embroidery and furs in HD! You've no idea!). All thanks to writer Michael Hirst for giving the strong and saintly Katherine of Aragon her due as a powerful woman, mother and Catholic, and I have every reason to expect Hirst will give the same full-blooded treatment to Mary Tudor, who's usually just portrayed as a mad harridan or a punchline for Elizabeth.

Sad: We're fast running out of wives!

Happy: There are so many good and promising new and relatively new one-hour shows on networks and cable right now. Beyond those I already mentioned, they include USA's "Burn Notice," FX's "Damages," ABC's "Castle" (at left), Fox's "Lie to Me" (vastly improved under the hand of "The Shield" producer Shawn Ryan), Syfy's "Warehouse 13," ABC's "V," Fox's "Fringe" and, of course, Fox's sublime "Glee."

Sad: There was only one comedy on the fall network schedule that I really liked and made me laugh. (But, I did like the pilot for Fox's "Sons of Tucson," so that may change.)

Happy: There are also many good reality shows on network and cable right now. In particular, I'm enjoying Fox's "Kitchen Nightmares" (the U.S. one and the Brit version, which airs on BBC America), Bravo's "Tabatha's Salon Takeover" and ABC's "Shark Tank." If this nation's economy is to be saved, it'll come from entrepreneurs and small businesses, and these shows contain excellent lessons on conceiving, starting and maintaining your own business.

Sad: Not sure yet whether "Shark Tank" (right) will return this fall, but it does come back on Friday, Jan. 8, for some new episodes.

What's your list?

Today's cuppa: Bag Ladies English Breakfast tea (thanks, boss!)

Don't make any New Year's resolutions -- they're worth as much as a great heap of leftover chicken bones anyway. Instead, if you want to improve your life, watch TV. That's right, watch TV. And worse than that, watch reality TV!

I know, I'm steering the four-wheeler straight off the reservation here, but I couldn't be more serious. If you let it, reality TV can help you save your life.

Of course, there are shows specifically intended to save your life, like "Surviving Disaster" and "Survivorman," but few of us face nuclear explosions and angry bears in our everyday experiences.

No, I'm talking about the reality shows that address things we wake up to each morning, such as ...

Being a Doormat: Are your kids running over the top of you? Is the dog actually the master instead of you? Are you unable to assert your personal power? Let ABC's "Supernanny" and National Geographic Channel's "The Dog Whisperer" help you learn how to become the leader in your family, your pack and your life. For example, here's what I learned from Cesar Millan (left) and "Dog Whisperer." In the cases of both shows, it's not just about children or dogs -- it's about human nature and the reasons we let ourselves become bit players in our own lives.

Being a Slob Around the House: Really, who doesn't let the junk mail pile up or the dirty dishes sit once in a while? But when it gets out of hand, it can be demoralizing and paralyzing. Few of us go to the extremes of the poor folks in A&E's "Hoarders," but if you watch enough episodes and pay attention, you begin to see where the behavior and lack of control began, and at which point possessions began to own the possessor.

I recommend starting off a little slower, with Style Network's indispensable "Clean House," and in particular the "Messiest Home in the Country" specials. Series designer Mark Brunetz (seen at right dressed as host Niecy Nash) is even writing a book on the topic of clutter (the baby sibling of hoarding).

I know that every time I see one of these shows, I may dust, empty or fill the dishwasher, vacuum or pick up the newspaper. Every journey to mayhem and foolishness starts with a single neglected chore.

Being a Couch Potato: As the new owner of Nintendo Wii Fit Plus, I can state with absolute conviction that you can get a heckuva workout in front of the TV, if you're willing to put in the effort. But sometimes you need a little kick-start to get out of the recliner in the first place. I recommend "Dancing With the Stars." If all that music and all those twinkling toes don't get you up and boogeying, you may need some professional assistance.

There are plenty of exercise shows on TV, but I would suggest starting with Style's "Ruby." This story of one woman's effort to come back from life-threatening obesity always makes me think, if Ruby could start exercising at 500 pounds, what the heck is my excuse? If Ruby can get up and walk, I can get up and walk, for heaven's sake.

Being a Whiner: For this, I have to defer to TLC's "The Little Couple" (keep watching this space for a new interview with spouses Bill Klein and Dr. Jen Arnold, seen at left). These two folks face significant physical challenges, but deal with it by just getting on with their lives. Despite both being under four feet tall, they're professionally successful, cheerful, hard-working, sensible and devoted to each other. They don't pity themselves or want or need pity from others. Pity more folks lamenting their victimhood all over the media don't take a cue from Bill and Jen.

Being Addicted: It may not be drugs or alcohol, but most of us are hung up on something. Addictive behavior is addictive behavior, and VH1's "Celebrity Rehab," returning Jan. 7 for a new season (and again, watch this space for a new piece with addiction counselor Bob Forrest), is a great way to get a primer on addiction's causes and treatments. Dr. Drew Pinsky is serious about the topic, and despite the celebrity sensationalism of the show, gives serious advice to his patients and, by extension, the TV audience.

This is just my list; I'm sure I have your own. But in every case, the change happens when you take the inspiration from the TV show and bring it into your reality. Best of luck in 2010!

Today's cuppa: Irish breakfast tea

Yesterday, I dashed off a post about the things I don't plan to get worked up about in 2010. But as symmetry is the essence of much beauty in nature (as anyone who watches a fresh snowfall even and make elegant the lawn rutted by the stump-pulling Bobcat last summer), I must offer up a complimentary list.

So without further ado, here are my Top 5 Things I Do Indeed Plan to Care About in 2010:

5: All the returning shows whose arrival is long-awaited and much-anticipated, as newness has its charms, but the sound of an old friend's tread on the porch makes the heart sing.

So, for my part, I bid a warm "Welcome Back!" to NBC's "Chuck," Fox's "24," FX's "Damages," HBO's "Big Love," NBC's "The Celebrity Apprentice," FX's "Nip/Tuck" (yeah, it's not what it used to be, but who among us is?) and ABC's "Lost." Of them only the last two have no chance of coming back next year, so if you love any of the others, lavish that love on their sponsors, and make sure to tell them why you're doing it. As the cops always say, follow the money.

This is just my list. There are lots more shows coming back, and while I may not be a fan of them all, anything getting a new season in this economic climate is cause for celebration.

4: The new midseason shows, for among these late-blooming flowers may be found enduring hits. From "Malcolm in the Middle" to "Grey's Anatomy," shows that slip in after the first of the year sometimes stick around far longer than their more-heralded fall siblings.

So, among others, let's keep an eye on FX's "Archer," Fox's "Human Target," The CW's "Life Unexpected," Syfy's "Caprica," Starz' "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" (which has already been renewed for a second season), CBS' "Undercover Boss," Fox's "Past Life," NBC's "Parenthood" and Fox's "Sons of Tuscon."

3: Those that create good TV.

The fact that both solid entertainment and real art arise from the muck and mire of the modern entertainment industry is a small miracle. I hereby congratulate all those TV alchemists who manage to turn commerce into gold. Such literary warriors for the working day as Shakespeare, Dickens and Poe would be proud.

2: Those who watch good TV.

No matter the quality, an unwatched TV show will wither and die. To the ordinary fans who just tune in week after week to the superfans who maintain Websites, attend conventions, write letters and even send peanuts and Tabasco sauce, I say a big "Thank you!" Upon your patronage, the entire TV industry -- and, by extension, the livelihoods of folks like me -- depends.

1: The men and women of America's armed forces and all first responders.

Today and always, I honor those whose sacrifice makes possible the freedom and safety to both create good TV and watch good TV. I salute you, who are truly the best of us.

Today's cuppa: Tassimo coffee

Once again in transcription hell, up against holiday deadlines, but just so my loyal Cuppers don't think I've forgotten them, here's my version of an end-of-the-year list (no, it won't be the last post of the year, so any of you out there cheering, pipe down).

There are a lot of things in the world right now to get all worked up about, not the least of which are war, healthcare reform and whether Carlos Bernard will appear in the upcoming season of "24" (I have several opinions but few answers and precious little insider knowledge on all of these three topics).

But there are also things that I absolutely plan to not get worked up about in 2010, and here are my Top Five.

5: What the networks are doing to keep their lights on.

I'm a dedicated free-marketeer, and the TV networks are privately owned businesses, answerable primarily to their customers and their stockholders. In all likelihood, 95-plus percent of everything they do is to address the concerns of one of these two groups, and that's how it should be. If they're maintaining sufficient audience share and generating enough profit to keep the stock price up, then good on 'em. I may get excited about individual shows, and be mildly interested in the horse race of it all, but as far as internal network politics, until I buy some stock, just not going to get into a lather about it (but I may gossip about it at parties. I am only human, of course).

4: The contract provisions of TV producers and actors.

Insofar as it affects whether these folks stay or go on a show or whether a show itself will continue, fine, but beyond that, until the day I get moved to the business pages of the show-business press, I don't see myself applying a lot of brainpower to this stuff.

3: Whom actors are dating, marrying, divorcing, etc.

I may report on this from time to time, as a matter of public record, but for the record, I really don't care -- unless I actually know the person and am personally sad or happy for them, as I would be with anyone else I actually know. Besides, with so many actors, who can keep up?

2: Lady Gaga.

Wha? Who? Wha? I see this person's picture way more than I need to already. I think she sings, but don't even tell me any more than that. I'm not even going to hyperlink her name. Google if you must.

And finally, the top thing that I don't plan to care about in 2010 ...

1: The entire movie industry.

I have spent far too much time in the last few years plowing through cable movie channels and On Demand offerings without finding even one movie -- unless you count my umpteenth viewings of "Speed," "Independence Day," "Die Hard" or "Twister," if they're available -- that sparked my interest.

I recently saw J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek" on DVD, and after I see "Up" on DVD, I think that'll do it for 2009 thus far. The only upcoming flicks that vaguely interest me are "Sherlock Holmes" (because someone else is taking me) and "Iron Man 2," which means I really only care about Robert Downey Jr.

And you can throw the Oscars into this category, too, unless "Star Trek" or "Up" are nominated for best picture.

(UPDATE: OK, to be fair, I am sorta interested in Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland," with Johnny Depp, but probably not enough to see it before it comes to DVD.)

TV is way, way, WAAAYYY better than the movies these days, and no, "Avatar" doesn't change my mind. As I've said on Twitter, I've already seen "Dances With Wolves," and 3-D movies make me nauseous, so this one interests me less than the final flicker of "Dollhouse."

Happy belated Hanukkah and Winter Solstice, and Merry Christmas!

Today's cuppa: Irish breakfast tea

If you watched last Monday's episode of CBS' "How I Met Your Mother," you heard Ted (Josh Radnor) telling his future children about how he and his friends managed to quit smoking. In particular, we learned that Lily (Alyson Hannigan) quit smoking when she tried to become pregnant, and that her husband, Marshall (Jason Segel), quit when his son was born.

So, unless Lily is swept away in an avalanche, and Marshall remarries -- maybe Robin (Cobie Smulders), as she's making the rounds, having dated both Ted and womanizing Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) -- then there will be the patter of tiny feet in the couple's future.

Crucially, Ted mentioned no exact date for either smoking cessation effort.

In real life, while Segel is single, Hannigan had a baby earlier this year with husband and former "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" co-star Alexis Denisof.

So, when I visited the New York Street at 20th Century Fox Studios to watch filming of the big musical number from the "HIMYM" 100th episode (airing Jan. 11, syndicated print story to come), and I was able to grab Hannigan and executive producer Craig Thomas after shooting wrapped, I took the opportunity to broach the topic of possible parenthood.

"Um, I'll say this," said Thomas, "they're 31 years old, they've been together, coming up on half their lives, right? They got together at 18."

"Tick-tock," said Hannigan.

"It's a little bit of a tick-tock," said Thomas. "I'll put it this way, without revealing anything -- it's a huge debate in the writers' room. I would love to explore that with Marshal and Lily, but it has to be the right time. It has to be the right chapter and the right moment in the show.

"We want them to have as much fun with pre-baby life as we can, but so many of us ... Alyson had a baby. I have a little two-year-old. So many of us have gone through that, and there are so many stories to tell with that. I wouldn't be surprised. I wouldn't be surprised."

Unlike the many unhappy couples on television, Marshall and Lily actually enjoy the married state. So, I wondered, wouldn't they have just as much fun with parenthood?

"Yeah, they would," said Hannigan. "Oh, god, yeah, and then the sleepless nights and the sleep deprivation can be very fun."

"You start acting crazy," said Thomas, "and we watch Marshall and Lily slowly lose their minds, turn on each other a little bit."

"Can you imagine Lily shopping for the baby?" said Hannigan.

"Lily falls off the wagon in her shopping addiction for the baby," Thomas said.

"For the baby," said Hannigan.

"Marshall gets a bill," said Thomas, "and it's, like, $27,000, all for the baby. I like this idea. Lily racks up a six-figure baby debt."

I also mentioned that, since Barney got a whole musical number to celebrate his love of suits, perhaps Marshall and Lily need a big fantasy sequence of their own.

"Another musical?" said Hannigan.

I suggested a spy movie.

"Marshall and Lily spy movie," said Thomas.

"That's pretty good," said Hannigan.

"I'm stealing that," said Thomas.

"I like trench coats," Hannigan said. "I'm just sayin'."

Stay tuned.

This doesn't appear in print until next week in most markets, but just because I like you ...

Dave Franco 'Scrubs' in for ABC

By Kate O'Hare

©Zap2it

 

Fans of the apparently immortal "Scrubs," airing its ninth season Tuesdays on ABC, are facing a lot of changes this year.

The setting has changed from Sacred Heart Hospital to its medical school (necessitating a move from the abandoned San Fernando Valley hospital where the show was always filmed to new studio digs in Culver, City, Calif.), and a whole crop of new med students has moved in.

Among them is Cole Aaronson, played by Dave Franco, often recognized for his "Funny or Die" Web series with his older brother, called "Acting With James Franco."

"He's serious about acting," Dave says. "He's let me figure out things for myself, learn from my own mistakes. But at the same time, if there is anything I ever do need to know about acting, If I have any questions, he's always there to answer them.

"But I love that he doesn't interfere with my path. I want to have my own career. I don't want to be James Franco's little brother for the rest of my life."

Franco's "Scrubs" character is described as "cocky" and "entitled." Franco agrees with that, but says, "As the season progresses, you learn about his relationship with his parents, which a lot of his attitude stems from.

"At the same time, you see that he is a vulnerable kid. With all that said, he puts on an arrogant front, but at the same time, it's obvious that he's not really this guy.

"He is harmless, when it's all said and done."

As for Franco himself, he says, "I like to believe that I'm nothing like this character. I don't know why it comes easily to me. I like to believe I'm a pretty friendly, gracious person, and maybe it's just my desire to be an a-- that I never am."

 

Birthplace: Palo Alto, Calif., on June 12, making him a Gemini

Movie cred: "Frat Bros." (2006), "After Sex" (2007), "Superbad" (2007), "Milk" (2008), "A Fuchsia Elephant" (2009), "The Shortcut" (2009)

Upcoming movie cred:  "Greenberg" (2010), "The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud" (2010)

TV cred: "7th Heaven," "Do Not Disturb," "Greek," "Privileged"

Producer cred: "A Fuchsia Elephant," written and directed by Dianna Agron, who plays cheerleader Quinn Fabray on the hit Fox series "Glee." Franco is a screenwriter but has yet to be produced.

 

Favorite book: "One of my favorite books of all time is 'Ham on Rye,' by Charles Bukowski, which my brother and I are actually adapting right now. It's like a dream come true. Hopefully that will amount to something. Definitely with Bukowski's material, it's pretty dark, and it's not going to be a movie that appeals to wide audiences, but we love it so much."

Favorite music: "I'm mainly into what I would classify as indie rock, but the bands I've been listening to recently include this band called Bon Iver. Who else have I been listening to? This guy, Andrew Bird, and this up-and-coming British band called Mumford & Sons, and to another British band called Noah and the Whale. Also, there's this band the National."

Favorite movie: "If I had to pick a single movie as my favorite, I'd have to say 'Stand by Me.' I love that movie. The first script I ever wrote was heavily influenced by that. Nothing has ever happened with it, but maybe something will down the line. That and 'Shawshank Redemption' are two of the best movies based on (Stephen King's) books."

Today's cuppa: office coffee

Up to my ears in transcription hell, so just a quick note to share some links and a little news.

Click here for my appearance on the TV Talk show on BlogTalkRadio last Thursday, in which I share all sorts of set-visit-y goodness and play 'Splainer Girl for why there aren't more cable shows online.

Click here for a video celebrating YouTube choosing eGuiders as Curator of the Month. In it, a bunch of eGuiders say hey, and yep, I'm one of them (but in fairness, many of the rest are far more famous than little old me).

And click here for my latest eGuiders video pick, featuring my age-inappropriate secret boyfriend (so secret he doesn't even know me) Steven Crowder ( @scrowder on Twitter) in a humorous mash-up of "CSI: Miami" and the oft-discussed War on Christmas.

I say, just let Yukon Cornelius loose on the Grinches. Considering how he handily took care of the Bumble Snowmonster, the War on Christmas should be over by the end of Hanukkah.

And finally, for those of you who clicked here and here and watched "Community" last Thursday, you know that "Breakfast Club" and "The Dead Zone" star Anthony Michael Hall (on the right below, with Joel McHale) guest-starred as a knuckleheaded bully with a fondness for winterdoodle cookies and a limited emotional range (and imaginatively named "Mike").

I asked "Community" executive producer Dan Harmon ( @danharmon on Twitter -- follow him, he's a hoot) about Hall's future on the show.

"I didn't murder him," says Harmon. "Last thing I said to him, 'Let's make sure we find out this guy's a great guy in the future. Love to have you back.'

"One of my goals with 'Community' is to never have villains. People get on the wrong sides of each other in different situations, but if you scratch the surface, you always find out that everyone's a hero or a victim in their own story.

"Just because of the fact that he was great, we'd love to have him back. Also, he was something of a straw dog in the episode, just a bully. I'd love to bring him back and make him sympathetic."

Back to hell, see y'all later.

Tonight's cuppa: Irish breakfast decaf tea

Here are a few more moments from my visit to the well-chilled set of NBC's "Community" in late October, during filming of the holiday episode, "Comparative Religion" (click here for a preview), airing Thursday, Dec. 10.

(Click here for the previous post.)

Donald Glover (in the center to the left, between Alison Brie and Yvette Nicole Brown) on the inspiration for his character Troy, a former high-school football star: "I based a lot of the character off Smash. You watch 'Friday Night Lights.' He's a wide receiver, but I do like his style, the way he talks. 'Smash wouldn't do that. Smash has got this down, baby.' I love Smash."

(right, Gaius Charles as Smash Williams)

Glover on why community college (the setting for the show) is cool: "It's the heart of the show, which makes it such a great show and also makes people who come out of community college great. It forces you to deal with a variety of people. ... Community college is a place where people are forced to be together, which is the world."

Yvette Nicole Brown, who plays recent divorcee Shirley, and Alison Brie, who plays Troy's former high-school classmate, Annie Edison, on that other misfits-in-school show, Fox's musical high-school dramedy "Glee" ...

Brie: "I consider it the nemesis of our show."

Brown: "We joke about 'Glee.' We love 'Glee,' but we joke about it."

Brie: "We do love 'Glee.'"

Brown: "It's almost like 'Community' with music. That's the way we look at it. We can each find our counterpart on the show. (It's on another network, but) I think we should do a crossover anyway."

Brie: "A mash-up."

Brown: "Our community college against their high school."

Brie: "We've been pushing for a musical episode, but I think it won't come for a while. The writers are, like, 'Dream on.' But they try to incorporate it. They've incorporated your singing."

Brown: "I sing in the Christmas episode."

And lastly, Glover on trying to talk while co-star and pal Danny Pudi (right) is recording Christmas and Diwali greetings in English and Polish (and singing) nearby: "Remember this, what is going on. It's Abed, it's Danny Pudi, singing in Polish. The Indian-looking dude is singing in Polish. He's half-Polish, half-Indian. That's pretty cool. It's pretty funny. Sing again! Having this in the background is awesome."

(The two also do short vignettes at the end of the episodes. Click here and here for a couple of examples.)

Finally, just because it's an awesome shot, below find actor Jim Rash, playing Dean Pelton, dressed as, well, whatever he's dressed as ...

Today's cuppa: Newman's Own Royal Tea

With apologies to Dan Fogelberg and Tim Weisberg for the title, the fusion of tech and TV is an inevitability, and that includes news and entertainment (I've already folded print news into the Web, as that's a done deal except for the shouting).

TV news, with its immediacy and transitory nature, is an especially good fit for the highly mutable Web environment, particularly with new streaming-video technology.

Fox News Channel's "Strategy Room" streams live original programming every weekday, and every other cable, local and network news operation offers video clips and feeds.

On the entertainment side, Hulu.com offers loads of shows, including new network programming, as do network websites and other outlets.

Original cable shows are a little slower coming en masse to the Web (they have a different financial model), but more arrive all the time.

We haven't yet reached a full integration of the PC and the TV, at a price point and ease of use that make it available to a wide swath of the population, but we're not far away.

Some folks, such as many college students, use their PC as the TV, as they watch all their favorite shows online.

For a lot of these young people, the Internet has always been with them. It's been said that any really successful tech breakthrough eventually becomes common, invisible and taken for granted, from the wheel to the electric light to the telephone to the car to the Internet.

But every now and then, it's good to learn where something came from, especially if you're at another major tipping point. I'd argue that this is one, as the Internet prepares to become the main delivery system for news and information, supplanting both paper and broadcast signals.

People in the government, in private industry and in their garages are currently making decisions that will affect the future of communication technology. You may even be one of them.

Here are a few handy links to sources of info about how we got to where we are, so we can figure out where to go next:

"A Brief History of Newspapers": The story of news on newsprint is a long and oft-told one, but this site is a nice, concise place to start.

"Historical Periods in Television Technology": From Philo T. Farnsworth to wall-covering plasma sets and high-definition broadcasting, the FCC tracks the evolution of TV tech. 

"The Soul of a New Machine": Remember when computers filled entire rooms or entire floors of buildings? No? Well, they did, and the fact that one can now be held in the palm of your hand didn't happen by magic. It's the result of years of hard work by a lot of very smart, very driven people, and Tracy Kidder's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1981 nonfiction book chronicles the story of the people and the company that created a new generation of Data General minicomputers.

"A Brief History of the Internet": Do words like DARPA and ARPANET and names like Vint Cerf and Tim Berners-Lee ring bells? No? Well, you wouldn't be reading this blog without them, and this site from the Internet Society gives a neat summary of how it all came to be.

"Triumph of the Nerds": If you'd rather watch the history of the Internet than read about it, this PBS documentary series from the mid-1990s, with host Robert X. Cringely (a k a Mark Stephens) -- who also wrote the book it's based on, "Accidental Empires" -- traces personal computing from the garages and universities of the 1970s up until, well, the mid-1990s. Neither Bill Gates nor Steve Jobs sprung full-blown from the head of Zeus, ya know. Once they were just pimpled teens with a dream. Click here for PBS' companion Website.

For bonus study, you can watch "Pirates of Silicon Valley," a TV-movie version of the tale, starring Anthony Michael Hall as Gates and Noah Wylie as Jobs.

As a bonus, click here for "Open," the third installment in the tech-centric "The Spark" series of short films from filmmakers Marc Ostrick and Michael Sean Wright.

This one focuses on Leo LaPorte, who's created a little tech empire from a cottage in a little California town, "netcasting" to the world. Sometimes the future of a big idea can wind up being something very small.

Hope you enjoy my syndicated profile of a very special visitor on this week's episode.

Checking in with Anthony Michael Hall

 

By Kate O'Hare

©Zap2it

 

The study room set for NBC's junior college comedy "Community" is all decked out for a Christmas party, which fits right in with the nearly frigid level of the air conditioning (thankfully, hot pizza eventually arrives).

(Left, from left: Danny Pudi, Alison Brie, Donald Glover; below, from left: Joel McHale, Anthony Michael Hall)

Luckily for Anthony Michael Hall, his guest starring role in "Comparative Religion," airing Thursday, Dec. 10, as campus bully Mike calls for layers of sweat clothes and finger gloves - and a fake dirty-blond mustache.

"The workers on the lot," he says, "they're always on bikes, and some lady from the painting shop drove by me. She said, 'Some of the guys in the shop were saying that you're that kid actor.' 'Yes, I am.' 'How long have you had that mustache?' 'Are you kidding me?' She bought it.

"I honestly felt, as soon as they gave me the stupid sweat suit, workout belt over the sweats, cinched, the gloves - that's all I needed."

While Hall's appearance on the comedy does represent a reunion of sorts between him and series star Chevy Chase since the two appeared in "National Lampoon's Vacation," it's just as likely he's on the show because he was in "The Breakfast Club" - since both it and "Community" are about a motley group of oddballs who bond after being thrown together at school.

It also didn't hurt that Hall was already a fan.

"Seeing the trailers," he says, "I was looking forward to it being really funny, so I DVRed it and watched it. Within two minutes, Danny (star Danny Pudi) did that great bit about Judd Nelson (in 'The Breakfast Club'), and I was at home, laughing my butt off.

"To be honest with you, I had some kind of inkling, like, 'I should be doing that series; Chevy's on there.' It was in my head."

As to what's next for Hall, he says, "I've got two films funded, so I'm going to produce two and direct one."

 

Birthplace: West Roxbury, Mass., on April 14, making him an Aries

TV cred: "ABC Weekend Specials: The Gold Bug," "Saturday Night Live," "The Dead Zone," "Pirates of Silicon Valley" (1999 TV movie, as Bill Gates), "61" (2001 TV movie, as Whitey Ford), "Hysteria: The Def Leppard Story" (2001 TV movie, as Mutt Lange)

Movie cred: "Six Pack" (1982), "National Lampoon's Vacation" (1983), "Sixteen Candles" (1984), "The Breakfast Club" (1985), "Weird Science" (1985), "Edward Scissorhands" (1990), "Six Degrees of Separation" (1993), "Hail Caesar" (1994), "The Photographer" (2000), "Freddy Got Fingered" (2001), "Funny Valentine" (2005), "LA Blues" (2007), "The Dark Knight" (2008)

 

Favorite books: "'The Undiscovered Self' by Carl Jung; 'The Power of Your Subconscious Mind' by Dr. Joseph Murphy; 'The Power of Myth' by Joseph Campbell. Books are too powerful to only pick one. They continue to be a lifelong resource for me."

 

Favorite music: "A tie - Bob Dylan's 'Blonde on Blonde' and Jimi Hendrix's 'Axis: Bold as Love.' Both my heroes."

 

Favorite movie: " 'Raging Bull' - Scorsese and De Niro at their finest. Every time I watch it, I find something new in the film."

And lastly, here's Yvette Nicole Brown as Shirley, just because it's an awesome shot.

And you never know, there just might be a bit more on this episode later in the week, 'cause I just had such a great time there ..

Today's cuppa: cafe latte

Here's the full text of my feature story on the new TNT series "Men of a Certain Age," premiering tonight ...

'Men of a Certain Age' doesn't waste a midlife crisis

 

By Kate O'Hare

©Zap2it

 

In a diner with orange seats that could be a Denny's or a Howard Johnson's or, if you're in Southern California, a Norm's, three middle-aged men - played by Ray Romano, Andre Braugher and Scott Bakula - gather over eggs, coffee and toast to talk about their lives.

The conversation is a mix of confession, reflection and speculation, all overlaid with humor and a good dose of merciless ribbing.

"We said, 'Let's just write what we know,' " Romano says. "And sadly, this is what we know."

The "Everybody Loves Raymond" star teamed with longtime collaborator and "Raymond" writer Mike Royce to pen the pilot for "Men of a Certain Age," premiering Monday, Dec. 7, on TNT.

The one-hour, character-based drama looks at the lives of three college pals negotiating their 40s in the Los Angeles area.

Along with being one of the stars, Romano is a co-executive producer with Royce (who's the show runner), Rory Rosengarten and Cary Hoffman.

He's also writing for the show, which prompts the question: After the success of "Raymond," why is Romano still working so hard?

"I tried that for two months," Romano says, playing with a saltshaker in a booth in the darkened diner set on the Paramount lot in Hollywood. "When 'Raymond' ended, there was about three or four months of 'Let's see what happens. This is fun.'

"At first it was exciting, because you get to rest on your laurels, enjoy things. Then after a few months, you're like, 'Now what? Who am I?' There's a big void. I knew what that void was. It was not doing something. So that's why I do it, because I have to. It makes me full."

Romano plays Joe, a slightly neurotic, recently separated father of two with gambling issues, who set aside dreams of playing pro golf to own a party supply store.

Close at hand are his two best friends from Syracuse University: overstressed, diabetic Owen (Braugher), who has a loving wife and children but chafes under the thumb of his father, who's his boss at the Chevy dealership, and Terry (Bakula), a B-list actor forced to take temp office work to make ends meet and fund his hedonistic lifestyle.

While it's not hard to imagine Bakula as a handsome actor, it's very unusual to see Braugher, who usually plays intense, driven professionals, as a harried, schlubby guy who has a hard time asserting himself.

"We didn't even want him," Romano says. "They said, 'Just meet with him.' So we met with him. He said he wanted to do this, that he's sick of chasing people with guns. I've got to tell you, it's one of those lucky things."

"It's great," says Braugher, munching on a bagel in the diner set (he wasn't the one eating during filming). "No guns, no weapons, no prop masters."

It's not just the lack of firearms, though, that appealed to Braugher.

"I'm playing a character," he says, "who has a living father and mother, a wife, three kids, relationships. A lot of the characters I play, they're loners. They're set apart in some way. One of the beauties of this piece is I'm absolutely immersed in my family life."

On the other hand, Bakula is a husband and a dad of four who's playing a footloose bachelor.

"I think it's a ball," he says, taking a break in an office set. "I identify less with the actor part of him than with people I know in the real world that are this guy at this point in their lives.

"Through my acquaintances and friends, I know people that are living this life still. That's the part that I identify with - not connected, not committed, a guy who's not been married at 50. That's what makes him lovable and a bit of a scoundrel ... and envied by these two guys at times."

As for playing an actor who's far less successful than himself, Bakula says, "You can't explain anybody's journey in this business. You can document it, but you can't explain it. I'm just not as carefree of a guy as he is. I was raised too traditionally to be this guy ever.

"It would bother me to be his age and not have money in the bank and be living paycheck to paycheck. If I hadn't had a level of success in the business, I would have left the business and done something else."

To get the New York-based Braugher and the always-busy Bakula to sign on - and to give himself time to wear many hats - Romano insisted on doing just 10 episodes this first season.

He also doesn't want to think of himself as the standard-bearer for men of the generation that came of age in the '70s.

"Don't put that pressure on me," he says. "Put it on Scott."

Today's cuppa: Hazelnut coffee

This past Sunday, Discovery Channel's "Storm Chasers" closed out its third season with a bang -- and a little blood.

If you missed the action, you get what few storm chasers do -- a second chance -- when Discovery airs a seven-episode marathon of episodes on Saturday, Dec. 5, starting at noon (Eastern time) and ending with the season finale, "EF-3 Strikes, You're Out!"

In the episode, storm chaser Reed Timmer took a blast of broken window glass in the face when his armored vehicle, the Dominator SRV, wound up inside of a twister on the Wyoming priairie (click here for a glimpse of that). He escaped with some cuts but no permanent injury ... and with his enthusiasm not dimmed in the least.

Meanwhile, IMAX filmmaker Sean Casey (right) put it all on the line to get the tornado-core footage he's been chasing for years. As you can see in this clip, the turret of his 16,000-pound armored TIV  (Tornado Intercept Vehicle), and the IMAX camera it protects, nearly got away from him.

In a scene reminiscent of the 1996 storm-chasing action classic "Twister," Casey pulled with all he had, howling into the maelstrom, to prevent himself and the massively expensive camera from being sucked up into the funnel.

June 5, 2009, is a day that Sean Casey will never forget.

"We had a pretty exciting spring, didn't we?" he says.

Asked what it was like to be clinging to his camera with all his might, Casey (a Southern California resident whose hobby, interestingly enough, is gardening), "We were extremely focused on getting that footage that we've been desperately trying to get for the last seven years. So you're really trying to maintain your focus on getting that job done and not trying to focus on the tornado and getting lost in the excitement of the moment.

"The minute you get lost in the sheer terror of a tornado coming at you, you're likely to make mistakes, like not turning the camera on."

And did he forget?

"I had a relieved look on my face (afterward)," Casey says, "and if I hadn't turned the camera on after intercepting that tornado, I probably would have had a different expression."

Being stuck inside of a tornado is a rough time to figure out that there's a design flaw in your vehicle that might cause that camera turret to tear loose.

"I never expected the turret to start moving like it was moving," Casey says. "It was hopping up and down at a high frequency, about two inches. It was hitting against the keepers at the bottom; that was what was keeping the turret from popping off. Then of course, there's that realization that the turret is too big, it's too exposed, and it's taking wing.

"At that point, it's all hands on deck. You've got to get under that thing and hold on for dear life, because if that camera goes, not only have we missed a shot, but we've lost a valuable piece of equipment. I'm sure if that thing had been taken for a ride, it would have been destroyed.

"It was weird. It was like, do you ever expect to be holding onto something for dear life in a tornado? It's like something you would expect to see in the movie 'Twister.' Those moments are insane. How could it happen in reality?

"And then you experience it. You put yourself in that situation where something totally fictional becomes reality, and you are holding onto something for dear life in a tornado. It was surreal."

Casey says he immediately added a one-inch bolt to the TIV and ran a strap from it through the turret to help anchor it, and he plans to add deflectors of some sort to reduce the wind the structure has to endure.

Of course, the TIV doesn't work alone searching for twisters. The accompanying vechicle called the TIV Doghouse (seen behind the TIV at left; double-click on the image for a closer look) features a driver and a meteorologist/navigator, which help the TIV team know where to go next. Casey also has a partnership of sorts with Vortex2, a scientific team led by research meteorologist Dr. Joshua Wurman.

At one point near the end of the season, Casey promised to stick close to Vortex2, but when better storms beckoned, off he went. In the end, it worked out, but while the two teams cooperate, it's obvious they have different motivations.

"We're not coming to the table as scientists," Casey says. "We're coming into their realm and working with them with the focus of getting IMAX footage and making an IMAX film that really portrays and mirrors the amazing spectacle that does exist out there.

"So you do have a clash of characters. And we're working with Vortex2. We have instruments on our vehicle, and we stick with them as long as we can. This last year, we might have separated ourselves a lot, but when it came down to it, the only tornado that they collected data on and intercepted, we were there, and we were a part of their mission."

The most important question is, how does the footage look?

"Oh," says Casey, "it's awesome. The tornado that we intercepted was a low-contrast tornado. It wasn't picking up dirt, just because it was going over prairie land. On TV, it doesn't really translate, but on the IMAX screen, you can actually see the individual pieces of grass times a million, just blasting by. You can see the condensation wave from the ground, rolling towards you.

"It's quite a good shot."

Casey plans to head out with Vortex2 for another season of storm chasing and filming in the spring of 2010, then aims to release his film, "Tornado Alley," in early 2011.

As for the TIV, it's had to suffer a indignity that would never happen in a tornado.

"It's actually parked behind my work," Casey says, "and that's in North Hollywood. It's already been tagged. Somebody found it and tagged it. Yeah. It's just gathering leaves right now."

Today's cuppa: Peppermint tea, soon to be chased with hazelnut coffee

On Wednesday, Dec. 2, at 8 p.m. ET/PT, CBS airs its digitally remastered version of the venerable Christmas classic "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," available in HD (just saw Chuck Jones' "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" in HD on ABC, and wow, the colors and the sharpness of the animation were wonderful).

I've been watching Rudolph since I was knee-high to an elf and am always surprised how many good life lessons there are in it, such as ...

Be a dentist if you want to. It's fascinating! You've no idea!

The fog can be as think as pea soup or peanut butter. You eat what you like, and I'll eat what I like. (actually got to use that line to my dad in the car on one foggy drive)

Bumble Snowmonsters are nothing without their choppers! (and they bounce, of course)

Santa is kinda judgmental, until he figures out that Rudolph's nose can be useful, then he's all over it. Bad Santa!

Rudolph's mom rocks! Clarice rocks! Basically, does rule!

The Island of Misfit Toys has the coolest flying-lion king EVAH, but the accommodations for the regular residents seem to be limited to a patch of tundra near the fire. Step it up, Moonracer! Oh, I forgot -- SPOILER! SPOILER! -- all the toys left with Santa. Never mind.

I'm sorry, nothing is wrong with that Dolly. I've heard explanations that she has psychological issues, but as her brain is made of either stuffing or straw, I'm not buying it. I totally get the train with the square wheels on its caboose, but the Dolly should man up and turn off the waterworks.

Yukon Cornelius was on the hunt for something more precious than gold or silver. It got cut out of the final show, but he was actually looking for a peppermint mine. Now, that's a man with priorities. After all, the price of gold may be skyrocketing due to economic instability and out-of-control government spending, but you can't suck on a nugget when you're feeling low.

Eat weird-looking gray food and you can go from svelte to "That's my Santa!" in no time flat.

But enough about me, what do YOU think of my favorite animated Christmas special? Vote!