July 2010 Archives

Today's cuppa: cappuccino

Here's the text of a little story I did on the loudest cooking show on the air.

And BTW, I was actually in Chef Ramsay's TV restaurant during taping of this particular season -- click here for the report on that.

Bon appetit!

Airing Tuesdays on Fox this summer, the seventh season of the competitive reality show "Hell's Kitchen" once again features U.K. chef Gordon Ramsay putting a bunch of culinary competitors through their paces, with the goal of allowing one to run a restaurant of Ramsay's choice.

 

For the producers of the show, the challenge is to take the same bunch of ingredients - contestants, Ramsay, kitchen, restaurant, challenges, dinner service and lots of yelling - and switch up the recipe to give viewers something new.

 

This season, the added spice is added yelling, this time not just one way from Ramsay to his teams of hopefuls.

 

"Because of past seasons," says executive producer Kent Weed, "they were a little bit more confrontational with Chef Ramsay. They were a little more fearless, willing to step up to him. That's probably the biggest thing that stands out - the chefs."

 

Of course, assertiveness can get a contestant in trouble, as fans learned when contestant Andrew decided he'd had enough of being dressed down by Ramsay, first talking back to him and then quitting altogether in episode two.

 

Told by another contestant that many people would be happy to be in his shoes, Andrew ditched those as well.

 

"You can't write that kind of stuff," Weed says. "These guys were just very ballsy. They weren't going to take it. They were going to do it under their own rules - or they thought they were, until they got a dose of Chef Ramsay."

 

One big challenge of reality shows is that as seasons go on, contestants who've seen earlier episodes think they have a leg up on previous competitors.

 

"It never ceases to amaze us," Weed says. "When we do casting, people come up, and they have so much self-confidence, and they really think they're going to do so much better than all the other morons that have been on before.

 

"Then they get into the kitchen and go, 'Oh, my God, it's more difficult than I ever imagined. I didn't expect this.' "

 

The producers are also continually surprised when their early handicapping goes awry.

 

"When Scott left, in episode five or six, redhead Scott ... we thought he was going to be a barnburner," Weed says. "We thought he was going to blow the walls off, and he just fell apart. He never delivered.

 

"We never lack for surprise, who does well and who doesn't. We can't predict it."

 

One thing missing in season seven was the traditional beef Wellington, replaced with lamb Wellington. But this fall, "Hell's Kitchen" goes back to its pastry-wrapped roots.

 

"We brought beef Wellington back for season eight," Weed says. "It was a favorite, so we had to bring it back. Look for it when the show debuts on Sept. 22."

 

Weed says there are more changes to come this fall, with a new kitchen, new dining room and much tougher challenges. Also, "Hell's Kitchen" is tossing a little more star power into the pot.

 

"'Hell's Kitchen' has also become a very popular place for people to go to," Weed says. "You (see) it a little bit in season seven, with celebrities showing up. (In season eight), it's celebrities every night. It's a who's who every night. There are always celebrities in the restaurant."

When you hire a Broadway star for your primetime comedy-drama, even if she's playing a lawyer, you know there's going to be some singing and dancing.

Sometimes, the star provides the entertainment, but it certainly doesn't have to stop there.

On Lifetime's "Drop Dead Diva," airing Sundays, Brooke Elliott stars as Jane, a plus-size lawyer who passed through death's door then was shoved right back into the land of the living -- but now with her mind and body inhabited by the spirit of Deb, a fashion-forward blonde who was none too happy to find herself a zaftig brunette.

Over the show's first season and now into its second, Jane has struggled to reconcile the parts of her personality and life that are Jane and the parts that are Deb. Along the way, music has frequently broken out, resulting in a CD of tunes from the show.

Among the music is an original song called "Begin Again," which was incorporated into the episode that aired on July 18. The show shot an accompanying music video that has garnered a lot of views on YouTube.



But there's more to come, as says executive producer Josh Berman, in a Q&A below (questions in bold; answers in blue). Enjoy!

Describe to me the process of having this song written for the show.

 

We wanted to write a story about a young pop group and needed a song to fit perfectly into the story. We approached our composer, Scott Starrett, and singer song-writer Jasmine Smith-Howard with our concept for the song entitled "Begin Again." Two weeks later, they came back to us with a song that far exceeded every our wildest expectations. It played on so many levels and worked beautifully in the episode. Our director liked it so much that he shot an entire music video, which is now on YouTube. It caught on like wildfire.  

 

How much more original music is planned?

 

The response has been great, so we do plan more. We're lucky that the fans have embraced the musical component of the show. We even launched a CD which is now available on Amazon.com and iTunes. We've been in the top 10 of Amazon's TV CDs since our release on June 1^st, and the comments about the CD are pretty terrific.

 

How important has music become to the series as a whole?

 

It elevates the show and makes it even more special and fun to watch.   

 

Is there any way of incorporating even more of Brooke's musical talent into the show?

 

Brooke has an extraordinary voice, and is a wonderful dancer as well. We have some surprises in store for the remainder of the season, but I don't want to give anything away. My favorite musical number will launch our two-hour season finale on August 28th. It's fantastic.

 

What is the biggest way the show has changed since the premiere, and the biggest way in which it hasn't?

 

Jane is more comfortable in her body. She's begun to realize that she can still achieve all her dreams despite not being a size zero. That being said, there are still obstacles and surprises at ever turn that make Jane re-examine her life. I think she's becoming more introspective in some ways but also living life to the fullest at the same time.

 

Do you have some hints for upcoming episodes?

 

Oh, there are lots of surprises. And if you thought last season's cliffhanger was big, this is even more shocking and life-changing for our characters!

Tonight's cuppa: Barry's Gold Blend tea or Texas Turtle coffee? I can't decide!

Recently, I had a chat with Christian Kane, who plays tough-guy enforcer Eliot Spencer on TNT's hit caper drama "Leverage" -- he's got a very special episode coming up in Sunday (July 18), so click here to take a look at the Zap2it story -- and the conversation turned to his days playing lawyer Lindsay MacDonald on The WB's "Angel," and his ongoing friendship with the star of that show, David Boreanaz.

"It's funny," says Kane, "I just watched the last episode about a week and a half ago. I had TiVoed two episodes of 'Angel,' and that was one of them. I ended up watching the whole thing over again and thinking, 'Wow, we were young.'"

Boreanaz is now one of the stars of the hit Fox crime drama "Bones," playing tough-guy FBI Agent Seeley Booth.

Asked if he was ever going to be on "Bones," Kane says, "You know, David keeps talking about it. We keep talking about it. It would love to go over there. It'd be such a blast. We've talked about it for years. I could do it. It'd have to be the right role, like Pacino and DeNiro in 'Heat.'"

In late 2008 and early 2009, I posted some polls about the two pals. In this one, I asked which one was prettier, Kane or Boreanaz; and in these ones, I asked whether Kane should cut his trademark long locks, and if Boreanaz should direct an episode of "Leverage."

For the record, neither thing in the second set of polls has happened yet; and in the first poll, it stands at nearly a draw, with Boreanaz edging out Kane by a couple of points.

So that made me wonder, since both guys play tough guys, which tough guy would prevail in a guy-on-guy fight? It seems Kane has thought about the same thing.

"I think Eliot Spencer should just go over to 'Bones,'" Kane says, "and him and Booth have a tussle on a case. I'd like to see the vote on that, who they think would win. Eliot or Booth, come on!"

Well, Mr. Kane, you get your wish. Below find a poll on just that very subject, and I hope all those "Angel" and "Leverage" and "Bones" fans out there will drop by and make their sentiments known.

Vote!


 

Today's cuppa: Lime-flavored iced fizzy mineral water (it's HOT today in L.A.!)

Earlier this summer, I interviewed Sprinkles Cupcake founder Candace Nelson (left) for a story connected to the episode of Food Network's Tuesday-night reality-competition series "Cupcake Wars" that featured "Ace of Cakes" baker Duff Goldman as a guest judge.

Click here for what Nelson had to say about defending her little cakes against big-cake proponent Goldman.

Nelson was kind enough to invite me to drop by the Beverly Hills location of Sprinkles Cupcakes -- described by the Los Angeles Times as "the progenitor of the haute cupcake craze" -- to sample the wares.

Last week, I stopped in and, while waiting for Nelson to arrive, tucked into a carrot cupcake (below, right) that, I must say, was moist and yummy (carrot cake is my favorite, so I'm pretty fussy about the cake part).

This was an ordinary Wednesday in July, in the middle of the afternoon, and the line was pretty long when I got there and even longer when I left (and no, it wasn't all women).

So the question is, what the heck is it about cupcakes?

Now, I'm no confection novice, having spent time behind the scenes of TLC's "Ultimate Cake Off," interviewed the host, George Duran, and judges, and then decorated a cake of my own with the Cake Divas of Culver City, Calif.

Also, during a visit to New York City in April, I sampled the oversized wares of the Crumbs Bake Shop (below, left) in the open air of Bryant Park in Manhattan (where Sprinkles will soon open a bakery).

But it wasn't until I did the research for "Cupcake Wars" that I realized the extent of the cupcake craze. I knew about Sprinkles, of course, having tasted them on set at the allegedly last episode of "Scrubs" (it was the last NBC episode, that much was true) and then at a "Flipping Out" birthday party (pictured at bottom).

But it's now certain that the cupcake-TV trend, like the cupcake-eating trend, is on the upswing.

Tonight, Friday, July 16, TLC debuts "DC Cupcakes," a new series about business partners and sisters Sophie LaMontagne and Katherine Kallinis (below, right) of Georgetown Cupcake, a small bakery that has become a thriving business.

Although Georgetown Cupcake is rather pinker and more overtly feminine than the simpler, more muted Sprinkles aesthetic, LaMontagne, just like Nelson, gave up a career in finance to make cupcakes (her sister did PR for Gucci).

Talking in a coffeeshop across the street from her crowded South Santa Monica Boulevard shop -- where we were interrupted by the unsettling rolling of a reasonably sized earthquake, leading me to wonder whether the Earthquake Cupcake will ever be on the menu of a California cupcakery, and what flavor it would be -- Nelson says she has no regrets.

"Sometimes we're thinking, 'Hmmmm,'" she says. "But we're doing what we love to do, and we're very fortunate to be able to make a living doing it. There are no complaints."

Asked about the appeal of the diminutive confections, Nelson says, "My favorite thing is the universal appeal of the cupcake, and the fact that everyone can participate in it. They're very democratic in that way.

"Who hasn't had one? Who doesn't have an opinion? Even the anti-cupcake sentiment -- great, so you hate a cupcake.

"Everyone's talking about it, because everyone can. I can get in a cab and have a very intelligent conversation about what I do. Everyone has an opinion and wants to jump into the debate. I love that."

One argument against cupcakes may stem from their association with the chick-TV hit "Sex and the City," meaning that they're thought to be too precious and cutesy and girly. But according to Nelson, dudes eat cupcakes too. And, the best seller to men is?

"Peanut butter," she says. "And they like it better with peanut-butter frosting than chocolate."

Nelson sent me home with a box of cupcakes, including peanut butter (with chocolate frosting). I texted a male pal to see if Nelson's assertion was true. He sampled the red velvet, the Key lime pie and another flavor I can't remember (but I think it was chocolate of some sort), but his face lit up when he hit the peanut butter.

And, true to Nelson's observation, he said he'd prefer it with peanut-butter frosting.

Of course, the food police will always complain that the cupcake is inherently fattening -- even though it's more portion-controlled than trying to figure out a right-sized slice of cake or pie -- but hey, you can always eat one for lunch and nothing else.

Says the svelte Nelson, "I have done cupcakes as meal replacements in the past. It can be done. I won't say it will get you through the day, but it will get you through a couple of hours."

Today's cuppa: coffee at lunch

Earlier today, I sat down for lunch with Josh Harris (left), son of the late Capt. Phil Harris, and F/V Time Bandit Capt. Johnathan Hillstrand, just prior to them taping an appearance for NBC's "Tonight Show With Jay Leno," airing, well, tonight, to talk about the personal ups and downs of the Harris family on Discovery Channel's crab-fishing reality hit "Deadliest Catch."

Watch for those interviews starting tomorrow in the From Inside the Box blog at Zap2it.com (UPDATE: Click here for the story), but first, here's part of my chat with Discovery Channel president and GM W. Clark Bunting.

We got on the phone to talk about Discovery's upcoming "Shark Week" -- click here for the video that introduced Craig Ferguson as host of the 23rd annual event, featuring my new favorite character, Brian the Puppet Shark -- but of course, we began our conversation talking about the phenomenon that is the "Deadliest Catch" fan reaction to the illness and passing of Capt. Phil Harris.

(The episode featuring his passing airs tomorrow night, followed by a tribute on the season finale of "After the Catch." Click here for more info.)

This is not the first time that one of the Discovery Communications networks has dealt with a death, since Animal Planet star Steve Irwin died from a stingray barb in September 2006.

"That was a different circumstance," says Bunting, "but a close friend as well. That was one two-hour special. I went down, did my remarks at the funeral. We did the show, and off you go.

"This (with Phil Harris) is much harder, because this is the reality of reality TV. The boys (sons Josh and Jake Harris) wanted this story to be told. So, unlike Steve -- where that film will never, ever been seen by anybody -- this is reality TV becoming real, in the most, I won't say harsh, but raw way.

"When you see that show, you'll see that it's very spare. It's very bare, very little voice-over, practically no music. It's just that powerful."

In many ways, both Discovery and Original Productions, which produces "Deadliest Catch," are making this up as they go along in covering the Harris saga.

(At right, Phil and Josh Harris)

"There are no instruction manuals on how you deal with issues this challenging," says Bunting, "other than common sense, dignity and, of course, the brand that is Discovery. But this ... I've never dealt with an issue like this. I've never seen anything like this.

"It's a really fascinating look at something every family goes through, but very few families would allow cameras or want cameras to be there. But that was part of Phil's wishes."

Click here for details of the late-January stroke that took Harris' life in February, at the age of 53. While that may not seem very old, Harris was a man who packed a lot of living and adventure into his years, whether on Alaska's Bering Sea aboard his beloved crab boat, the Cornelia Marie, riding motorcycles, running several businesses and even building birdhouses.

"He was one of those people," says Bunting, "who I don't ever think would be a graceful old man. It's one of those really difficult struggles creatively and editorially. When is too much? When have you gone over a line?

"How much do you do to fulfill Phil's wishes? But at the same time, you're just using common sense, because, again, creatively and editorially, I have never seen anything like this."

Today's cuppa: Kona coffee, from sunny Hawaii

Here's the full text of my feature story this week on the new A&E series (boy, I've been busy lately!)

It could be said that Florida is a strange place, with strange wildlife (gators, giant snakes, panthers, manatees ...), some strange people and definitely more than a few strange crimes.

You could even say it to Florida native and TV writer/producer Clifton Campbell, creator of the A&E Network series "The Glades," and he wouldn't disagree.

"There's a weird, off-speed criminality that happens in Florida," Campbell says. "When we got A&E in on developing this into the series it has become, a lot of the conversation was, 'It seems like every aberrant crime that happens, it happens in Florida, or someone has fled to Florida.'"

As to why this is, Campbell says, "I can't put my finger on it. I grew up around it, so I'm used to it. It wasn't until I got out in the world and talked to people about where I'm from, and they'd go, 'That's a weird place, isn't it?' I guess it is."

In "The Glades," which premieres Sunday, July 11, 11, Australian actor Matt Passmore stars as Jim Longworth, a newcomer to the Sunshine State.

Previously a homicide detective in Chicago who was unjustly accused of a dalliance with his former captain's wife, he decided to head to warmer climes, where he could pursue his love of golf.

He now lives in the fictional town of Palm Glade, works for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement as a detective, and in between tee times, takes up the occasional crime in his own idiosyncratic way.

And the murders just keep coming, whether it's a body in a swamp, one found in an airplane at a nature preserve or a guy who turned up dead at a bikini contest.

Each time, Longworth reluctantly leaves the golf course and pesters people until he gets to the truth.

"There's something extremely liberating," Passmore says, "about a guy who doesn't give a toss what people think about him, as long as he gets the job done."

But Longworth's also not exactly a bad-cop type of interrogator.

"He hides his agenda," Passmore says. "What comes across, and what I love to play with this guy, is he just makes sure that he's not bored at any time.

"So, if he's interrogating somebody to get something, he's going to poke and prod the guy, so that he's having a good time. It's Longworth enjoying himself. If it gets a little too boring, he can flip it on its head."

"There's a Columbo-esque, Rockford-esque quality to the guy," Campbell says. "He's the guy that every guy wants to hang out with and every woman wants to fall in love with, so he's got all that. But he's also easygoing and charming."

But, that charm doesn't work on everybody, including Longworth's boss, FDLE Regional Director Colleen Manus (Michelle Hurd), his erstwhile partner, medical examiner Carlos Sanchez (Carlos Gomez) -- but Longworth does get him to cut open a dead gator, to the delight of lab tech Daniel Green (Jordan Wall) -- and medical student Callie Cargill (Kiele Sanchez, above), a single mother dealing with a 12-year-old son (Uriah Shelton) whose father is in prison.

"When he meets Callie," Campbell says, "he realizes he's got a real foil in her. That's part of her charm."

"He likes to put people on their back foot as much as possible," Passmore says. "So when he meets Callie, she's the one person he can't do that to, so it intrigues him. He goes, 'Wow, a girl who doesn't take my crap. I've got to know her.' "

It was also casting love at first sight when Campbell met the largely unknown Passmore.

"Obviously," Campbell says, "when you endeavor to put together a single-lead show, you want to start with that guy who is going to build the foundation around which the cast and the ensemble can prosper.

"Because there's a fish-out-of-water element, it was important to us that it be somebody who wasn't so recognizable. Matt was quite outstanding. We sat down and met with the guy, and in the room, we all knew that this was the guy."

And the producers didn't mind that Passmore arrived with, shall we say, less than outstanding golfing skills.

"That was quite evident in the pilot," Passmore says, "that I need a lot of work on that. It's not something you just pick up. People spend a lifetime doing that. It's like, in Australia, every actor says, 'I can ride a horse,' then you get on a live one, and you find out why people spend a lifetime perfecting it. It's kind of like golf.

"My first lesson, I realized I needed to do a lot more work. But it's good. It introduced me to golf, and I love it."

Today's cuppa: Breakfast blend coffee, mmmm, smooth ...

Here's the full text of my feature story from this week on the new CBS police drama ...

Being a police officer may be a calling for some, but it is also a job -- a union job. And where there are unions, there are the bosses and the rank and file; there are negotiations and disputes and sometimes a strike.

 

And there is always a police officer whose extra job it is to stand in the middle of all that, to bridge the gap between the officers and the men, between the police and the people, and between the police and one another.

 

With a two-hour episode on Saturday, July 10, CBS premieres the Canadian-produced drama "The Bridge," loosely based on the life of Toronto radio personality Craig Bromell, who also used to be head of the Toronto police union from 1997 to 2003 and is an executive producer on the show.

 

"Battlestar Galactica" star Aaron Douglas plays Frank Leo, a tough and dedicated officer in a big-city police force who is voted in to head his union. To serve the 8,000 officers under his care, he must battle street criminals, corruption in the ranks and his own bosses, the so-called "brass wall."

 

Also starring are Paul Popowich, Frank Cassini, Inga Cadranel, Ona Grauer, Theresa Joy and Michael Murphy.

 

"The question is," says executive producer Alan Di Fiore ("Da Vinci's Inquest"), "the moral ambiguity of the show is, how far will he go? He ends up quite often crossing the line, dealing with a bad cop on his own terms, so it doesn't hurt the department. Because to hurt the department means that the funding is going to get cut, that they're going to have problems with the mayor, with money.

 

"I knew so many cops that when I met Craig, it wasn't a big surprise to me. I got him right away. I understood where he was coming from. The idea was to present that world differently than anybody had ever seen it before. The fact that Craig had become head of the police union -- that's where the comparison ends. He's not Frank Leo."

 

And Frank Leo is not Chief Galen Tyrol, the character Douglas played on "Battlestar," but there are similarities between the street-wise cop and the tough, resourceful chief.

 

"It's funny," Douglas says, "it's very, very similar to the chief in many respects -- blue-collar guy, he's there for the working man, he's going to do his best and is very loyal and very honest, just tries to make life a little bit better for those around him. And he will go to the wall for the people that he believes in.

 

"I like the fact that Frank's a real guy. He's flawed, just like people in life are. He's doing the best he can with the tools that he has. He makes mistakes, and he owns up to them. But he does the best that he can. He leads by example, and he leads with his words. People rely on him and need him.

 

"He will do whatever he needs to do to make a better environment for the people around him, and particularly the people who don't have the ability or the power to do it for themselves."

 

For his part, Di Fiore had no doubt about his pick to play Frank.

 

"I kept telling everybody, 'Look, I don't want a traditional pretty boy. I want somebody who has some character in his face," Di Fiore says. "I want somebody who looks like a young Gandolfini - better-looking than that. I wanted somebody with some power behind them.

 

"Finally, we found Aaron, and I was just over the moon. As soon as we got him, I said, 'We have to have this guy.' He's exactly who I pictured in this part, somebody you could believe was actually a cop on the street."

 

That means Douglas is again wearing a uniform. As to whether he prefers his police blues or his "Battlestar" flight suit and orange work jumpsuit, Douglas says, "Oh, 'Battlestar Galactica,' by far. I know if the fans had their druthers, they would rather see me walking around in an orange jumpsuit than a cop's uniform."

 

He's also learning to cope with wearing a gun belt, a radio and all the other accoutrements of a street cop.

 

"They hang a lot of stuff on your belt," he says, "put it over your shoulders. It's not just getting dressed and walking on the set; you've got 10 minutes with the prop guys."

 

"The Bridge" has already started airing in Canada, and Douglas is beginning to experience what it's like to have fame beyond "Battlestar."

 

"In Canada," he says, "when I do [get recognized], people point and wave and say, 'Hi, Frank!' It's weird. I'm so used to people yelling 'Chief!' across the street. I don't know whether to respond or whether they're talking to the guy with the beard behind me."

Today's cuppa: Barry's Gold Blend Irish tea

Here's the full text of this week's feature story on the Syfy series premiering tonight ...

Acclaimed novelist Stephen King is known for stories set in his native Maine that feature supernatural elements.

 

The latest adaptation of his work is indeed set in Maine, but had to have the supernatural elements added in - which might be a first.

 

On Friday, July 9, Syfy debuts "Haven," a new one-hour drama loosely based on a 2005 King novella called "The Colorado Kid," which dealt with the mystery of a body found on a small island off the coast of Maine.

 

In the TV show, Emily Rose (above, "John From Cincinnati," "Jericho") stars as FBI Agent Audrey Parker, who arrives in little Haven, Maine, to solve the murder of a local ex-con.

 

Before long, she discovers the town is a refuge for people with supernatural abilities - and it may hold a clue to the orphaned Audrey's own mysterious past.

 

Lucas Bryant (center, in photo below) stars as local police officer Nathan Wuornos, who becomes Audrey's investigative partner; and Eric Balfour (at left in photo below) as charming local Duke Crocker.

 

A few years ago, longtime pals and writing partners Jim Dunn and Sam Ernst were handed "The Colorado Kid" by producers Shawn Piller, Lloyd Segan and Scott Shepherd, whose previous credits include the long-running USA series version of King's "The Dead Zone."

 

The original story is long on mystery but short on answers.

 

"With 'The Colorado Kid,'" says Dunn, "Stephen King set up a template for a place and a few characters in the novella. King really doesn't touch on the supernatural much, and everyone agreed that we needed to bring the supernatural element (to the TV adaptation), which is largely what Sam and I brought.

 

"It's one of the reasons we held our breath when we sent our stuff to Stephen King, because we were adding a major element to what he had put in place in the novella."

 

Recalls Ernst, "We sparked to the novella and came up with a bunch of ideas, and over time eventually sent them all to Stephen King in a big document of everything we wanted to do. Then we held our breath.

 

"He sent us an email back that said, 'Sounds like a blast.' That's a quote. We finally let go of our held breath and started writing."

 

Nova Scotia, Canada, stands in for Maine in "Haven." The two places are not that far apart geographically, but shooting in the beautiful but rustic location is proving a challenge.

 

"As we speak," says Rose, calling in from the "Haven" set, "I am standing under a blue rain tent in front of a propane heater, because I'm just so cold."

 

But the blond-haired, blue-eyed Rose is thrilled to not just be playing someone's girlfriend or wife, but a tough career woman.

 

"I was just really excited to be able to play an FBI agent," she says. "It's great to be able to play a real serious role, a cool, sassy, smart, independent, funny but really deep character. It's such a treat when it comes along - especially when they're written really well also."

 

King is known for creating complex characters, and it looks like Ernst and Dunn have done the same for Audrey.

 

"The detail about her that I absolutely love," Rose says, "is the fact that she's an orphan. She's been thrown around from place to place until she was 18. Now she's an FBI agent. By nature, she's definitely driven and aiming to be a good investigator, partially, I'm sure, because she can't figure out that mystery of herself.

 

"She's running along on her hamster wheel, with her little driven self and nature, and all of a sudden, somebody stops that wheel. (In Haven), she is thrown out of it for a second, because there's a clue that just lands right in her fact that says, 'You might be connected to this place.'

 

"For the first time in her life, she resonates with that and has to stop her life for a minute. I think how she's adjusting to Haven is, sometimes when people don't want to deal with things, they wind up digging right back into their work. I think Haven offers a lot of that, because there are so many mysteries and things that are happening around this quirky area that she has to look into.

 

"But she still does have that constant panging of, 'Am I connected here? Was my family from here? Was my mother from here?' There are all these looming identity questions that she has to face and deal with."

 

All of this also raises the question of just how Audrey wound up investigating in a place that may be linked to her past.

 

"But is it bad?" says Rose. "Is it people in the FBI or the town of Haven? Has Haven drawn other characters to it? We don't know yet. She, for sure, doesn't know that yet."

Tonight's cuppa: Iced tea with peppermint (hey, it's July!)

On Tuesday, July 6, Syfy's hit "Warehouse 13" returns for a second season. I'm going to be doing a story for Zap2it.com (and here it is) to coincide with that, but to mark the Fourth of July, I thought I'd share with my loyal Cuppers some thoughts from star Eddie McClintock on one of his June 23 Facebook posts.

No, not the post where he wrote, "5.5 earthquake on the set of 'Warehouse 13'! I think I may have pooped a little."

I mean the other June 23rd one, when Team America still was in the running in the soccer World Cup, and he wrote, "USA SOCCER TEAM reminds me that there is still some NATIONAL bite in this old dog! (IT'S O.K. TO BE PROUD OF YOUR COUNTRY!)"

Asked whether he thought it was too bad that someone has to defend cheering for the U.S.A., McClintock says, "Yeah, things have certainly changed in that regard. If you chant, 'U.S.A! U.S.A!', you're a fascist. It's like, 'No, man, I'm proud of my country. It's OK.'

"There's just so much bombardment from these other voices ... and I'm not going to go and say it's left or right or whatever. I don't claim to be one or the other, but I do believe it's OK for us to have some pride.

"Look, when you get up in the morning, you make your bed. Why do you do that? Because you have pride for who you are and what you represent. To me, cheering for your country and having pride in your country is the same thing. It really doesn't mean anything more than that.

"You're not being racist or fascist or whatever -- you're just having pride in where you're from."

After all, few if any Americans would think less of folks from other countries if they're cheering for their respective nations.

"I don't know," McClintock says. "I only know what I hear, 'Oh, God, U.S.A, U.S.A., what's wrong with you?' 'What do you mean, what's wrong with me? What are you talking about? Go take your Birkenstocks and ease on down the road.'"

McClintock is not really a longtime soccer fan, but that doesn't matter to him.

"I said on my Facebook the other day, 'If it has U.S.A. in it, I'll root for it.' If it's USA Team anything, I'll root for them, because I wish that the nation would have a little bit more pride than it has.

"Not to get too political or whatever  but we're caught in this war in Afghanistan, it's now become the longest war in the history of the country. We've got oil spilling out all over our animals in the Gulf, and Al-Qaeda wants to blow us up.

"We need something positive. If the U.S. soccer team is that little something positive, than so be it."

Oh, and as for "Warehouse 13," he says, "It's bigger, better, faster, funnier."

Today's cuppa: Newhall Coffee Patriot Blend, natch

In honor of our nation's birthday on Sunday, July 4 -- click here for the full text of the original Declaration of Independence -- I went out to a few more TV folks to learn which Founding Fathers are their favorites and why.

It's something I've done before -- click here, here and here to see previous installments.

Ed O'Neill ("Modern Family"): "I would probably go to (Thomas) Jefferson (below), just because I thought he was brilliant, a vital guy, interesting guy, bon vivant. He knew a lot about wine."

Mike Rowe ("Dirty Jobs," "After the Catch," narrator of "Deadliest Catch," founder of www.mikeroweWORKS.com): The short answer for me was always John Adams. Adams was so contrary and so unlikable, so devoted to his wife. He was the only actual Founding Father who never owned a slave. He made principled decisions and was perfectly comfortable with the fallout -- happy to be unpopular. But also, it's hard to beat Ben Franklin.

"Where do you draw the line in terms of time? Lincoln (below) was so late. There'd be no union without (George) Washington. There probably wouldn't be a union without Jefferson. There definitely wouldn't be a union without Lincoln. There'd be something, but I don't know what."

Mike Vogel ("Miami Medical," and one of the founders of Ride2Recovery, which aids wounded veterans): "Being from Philadelphia, I'm a fan of Jefferson and Franklin. You're indoctrinated with all that. There's something so amazing, being a massive history buff and growing up where I did in Pennsylvania. I was a mile away from George Washington's headquarters before he crossed the Delaware. Every year, you'd take a field trip down to Independence Hall and Betsy Ross' house and Ben Franklin's place and the history that exists there.

"As for my favorite, I think Jefferson -- his ideals, the conservatism that he espoused, at least as I know it, Jeffersonian democracy, I like. (James) Madison ... when you look at the checks and balances that you had to go through just to get these guys to show up at a meeting of the federal government. They had to take it through every level of their state governments, to make sure their state would be OK with them showing up, because they were so adamant about maintaining the rights of the state before turning it over to the federal level of government."

Eric Bolling ("Money Rocks"), via email: "Glenn Beck -- Founding Father of today! Historically, John Adams (right) -- he was greatly responsible for the content of the Constitution."

As a bonus, here's another pick, this time from leading political blogger Andrew Malcolm of the Los Angeles Times' "Top of the Ticket": "B. Franklin ... I've always liked and admired him for his amazing combination of talents and skills. Other Founding Fathers were magnificent generals or writers or revolutionary/politicians. Franklin was multi-dimensional before multi-tafking (cq) was a word.

"He was a well-educated writer who could help draft the Declaration of Independence and see the compromises there to make the crucial national cohesion among disparate colonies. Franklin could, as well, quill a newspaper column for ordinary citizens.

"He was a nuanced diplomat, an, uh, man about town, even if it was Paris. He was into science and inventions (I think we will someday discover his drawing of a prototype iPhone). And yet, with all that, he was so down-to-earth that he could see the need for, and help invent, something as ordinary as a postal system, as another thread in a country that would eventually evolve into a nation."

And, to go out with a flourish, click here for one of my favorite eGuiders picks, the Revolutionary War rock video "Too Late to Apologize: A Declaration."

Today's cuppa: blend of organic coffee from Mexico and Latin America

This season on USA Network's "Royal Pains," airing Thursdays, Reshma Shetty's character, physician's assistant Divya Katdare, is trying to decide whether to go through with the marriage that her traditional Indian parents want for her or to pursue her career working for concierge physician Dr. Hank Lawson (Mark Feuerstein), who services private, rich clients (and some who aren't rich) in the exclusive Hamptons on Long Island, N.Y.

In real life, Shetty is planning her upcoming wedding to Deep Katdare (Shetty decided to name her character after him), whom she co-starred with in the musical "Bombay Dreams."

"We played fiances in the show," says Shetty, "Vikram and Priya. Here we are, three-and-a-half years later, we're getting married. The wedding's going to happen in March of next year, and we're trying to coordinate where it's going to be.

"It's going to be in Manhattan. I have a few places I want. It's going to be an Indian wedding, because my fiance is Indian. It's definitely a wedding more for my family, because a wedding is not just you and your husband getting married, but two families getting married.

"So I'm just starting all of that stuff. We'll see where it goes. It's already very stressful, and we haven't even picked the venue yet! I do have time, and I have a really great wedding planner, so I think it will all mesh out."

As it turns out, the stage of "Bombay Dreams" wasn't the first place that Shetty saw Katdare.

"He was an actor," she says, "and I saw him in a movie my mother forced me to see in college before I was even an actor. He was the star in it. So it's funny that our lives have been intertwined for quite a while."

As for Divya's possible wedding on the show, Shetty says, "It's going to be her battle year. It's going to be people really seeing more of who Divya is, not just this career-minded, put-together person. She has dreams, and they're kind of against what her family has wanted.

"You're really going to see how she battles it. The big thing is the marriage. Is she going to marry this guy? Is it the right thing to do? Her head and her heart, are they really going to align? You're going to have to watch the show. At this point, I don't even know. It could go either way.

"But it's kind of apt, isn't it, that I'm getting married in real life and also getting the preparations done on screen? So, let's hope those two aid each other."

When Shetty isn't pondering weddings real and fictional, she's expanding her horizons as part of the regular rotation of guests on Fox News' latenight politics/pop-culture roundtable show, "RedEye W/Greg Gutfeld."

Known for its raucous, sometimes profane humor, wide range of viewpoints and freewheeling discussions, "RedEye" could be an intimidating environment for the uninitiated.

(Click here for a recent post with host and author Greg Gutfeld.)

"The first time they asked me to come on," says Shetty, "I was terrified, because I'm a staunch Democrat. So when I was told it was on Fox News, I said, 'That's just not a good idea. I don't think our politics will mesh very well.' And I'm not a political analyst, and I hate to go to things and not know what I'm talking about.

"So it was intimidating. But they are so nice over there, and they keep asking me back. Every time I go, it's a fun topic, and they're so fun. It's a different set of skills to be able to do that stuff. They're so fast on their feet. They're so witty, and their banter is so quick, and to keep up with that was a learning experience and still is, every time I go.

"It's a very boys' show. You know that going into it, but honest to goodness -- they know exactly who I am and what I think, and they always have been really welcoming about it and very open."

More than once, Shetty has occupied the so-called "leg chair," the last chair around the table from host Gutfeld, where the camera gets a full profile shot of the guest -- which is usually an attractive female.

(Click here for video of Shetty's first "RedEye" appearance.)

"I actually complained about that," says Shetty. "I said to them, 'Hey, guys, how come I'm always in the chair on the left, while when I started this, I was next to Greg?' They're like, 'No, no ...' The next time I did it, I was next to Greg, and I've actually said, 'Can I not be in the leg chair?'

"I think I should take it as a compliment, that they felt my legs were good enough to be shown in that way, but yeah, I can't deal with the leg chair."

After all, for a woman in that chair, there's a lot to keep in mind in terms of leg crossing and skirt placement.

"You've got to keep your back straight, too," Shetty says. "I tell ya, there are too many things to think about."