May 2011 Archives

Today's cuppa: PG Tips tea

This past week, I wrote a story about Discovery's "Deadliest Catch" for Zap2it -- click here
 to have a look-- that focused on last Tuesday's episode, in which the conflict aboard the F/V Cornelia Marie boiled over.

As with all stories, there are bits of the interviews that don't make it into the final edit. So, since I know many of my loyal Cuppers are also big "Catch" fans, here are some bonus goodies from Cornelia co-owner and deckhand Jake Harris and executive producer Jeff Conroy:

Josh Harris on abandoning crab fishing for showbiz: "You know what, I would love to do something that's easy and make money at it, but I think I would go into convulsions if I didn't fish.

"I was trying to do a 15-second commercial for Discovery, and I couldn't even say one line. I don't know how successful I would be in the show business. I would love to do it, but I gotta make sure my guys are employed. I gotta do it the right way, the way my dad (the late Capt. Phil Harris) would have wanted to do it, and the way I want to do it. That's what I want to do."

Jeff Conroy on the decision by Josh and brother Jake Harris to stop fishing early because of a poor catch and rising costs (and because of conflict with substitute Capt. Derrick Ray): "I really wanted them to fish more. It made it hard for us. Where they quit didn't give us as much material as I normally would want to work with.

"Look, for us, we really try to stay out of their business as much as possible. Really, that is their business, but them ending early was something we were not happy about at all.

"In fact, I talked to Josh, I said, 'Look, this is going to have to play as it plays. Just being honest with you here. We're going to look at the tapes of what happened out there, and that's what we're going to play. If you feel like quitting right now, then that's the way it's going to play. I'm not in the business of changing history.'"

Josh Harris on how he's getting along with brother Jake, who has been battling addiction: "It's kind of like black and white sometimes, but we're brothers, and that's what brothers do. But we're doing great. We're coming through to our own here."

Jeff Conroy on the future of the Cornelia Marie, on which the Harris brothers are now minority owners, while not yet qualified to be captains: "The thing is, these boats, they basically need to fish to make money. The Hillstrands (of the F/V Time Bandit) and (Captain Sig Hansen of) the Northwestern -- all those boats, they are owner/operators.

"So they save a lot of money and make a lot of money, because they're owner/operators, as opposed to leasing it out. I think the business gets harder and harder for the Cornelia Marie, where you have to make sure you get a captain, you have to maintain a boat, and you don't have tons of quota.

"So, I think it's going to be a very hard business. I don't know how Josh and Jake will do it. ... I'd love to have them out there. I want them to work it out. The truth is, there's a lot of goodwill out there towards Jake and Josh. Even getting the quota that they got (this past season), a lot of that was people wanting to see those boys come back because of Phil."

Josh Harris on Northwestern deckhand Jake Anderson -- click here, here and here for stories about him -- who has also dealt with personal tragedy and being a recovering addict while actively pursuing his dream of being a captain: "Jake is definitely an inspiration to me. I absolutely love that kid. He is always striving to do the best. For a guy our age, I can talk to him about stuff, and he understands. He's been a big inspiration to me, and he always encourages me to do it."

Tonight's cuppa: PG Tips tea

On Wednesday, May 25, the freshman ABC comedy "Happy Endings" -- about a group of longtime friends navigating the turbulent waters of marriage, romance, lack of romance, being left at the altar and leaving someone at the altar -- airs its season finale.

It now can prepare to come back next fall -- an ending that was very much in doubt when it premiered in April.

Dave (Zachary Knighton) and Alex (Elisha Cuthbert) are the not-quite-wed former couple; Brad (Damon Wayans) and Jane (Eliza Coupe) are married; Penny (Casey Wilson) and Max (Adam Pally) are single.

(Photo, left to right: Pally, Wilson, Knighton, Cuthberg, Wayans, Coupe)

Slipped onto the air in the spring, run two episodes at a time at 10 p.m. ET, "Happy Endings" had all the look of a comedy the network lacked faith in and was just burning off.

Well, that wasn't the case.

But, back on Feb. 1, when producers Jonathan Groff, creator/producer David Caspe (who used his own pals as inspiration) and editor Sandra Montiel are gathered in a windowless room to cut together the last episode, "The Shershow Redemption" -- click here for a preview -- the show hasn't even premiered yet.

"So," says Groff, "to give you the backstory on this episode. They had this busted wedding in the pilot between this couple. So Elisha Cuthbert is the sister of Eliza Coupe's character, and they've all been friends forever. So the whole premise is, 'How can this group of friends survive this busted wedding, especially when, at some point, they're all going to have to be friends again, because the roots are so deep.'

"This is our final episode, where it's put to the test when an old friend of theirs, an old boyfriend of Penny's, is getting married. They're all going to the wedding, so how can Dave and Alex survive an actual wedding?

"We're playing with the lingering feelings of it all. They split up; they hate each other; they figure out a way to get together; they don't really hate each other. We play it quickly."

Asked if the friends get a happy ending, Groff says, "We wanted it to be a happy ending, but a real happy ending?"

Not two people running across a beach toward each other, arms flung wide?

"God willing," says Groff, "the end of season five."

"Yeah," says Caspe.

"Happy Endings" is a single-camera comedy, meaning the way it's shot is not much different than a drama. And it takes about as long to knit together.

"Well," says Caspe, "the editor does her pass, which usually takes, including watching dailies and stuff, usually takes under five days, seven days."

"With no interruptions," says Montiel, "usually five days."

Caspe continues, "Five days to watch all the dailies and do an editor's cut, then the director does a pass, probably two days."

"Two days by DGA rules," says Montiel.

"And then," says Caspe, "we come in and, depending on the episode, spend probably about three full, full days to do a pass. So three 10-12-hour days."

Asked if it takes as long to edit each half-hour as to shoot it, Caspe says, "Longer."

"It's very intensive," says Groff. "The more you shoot, the more you have to look at."

"We do a lot of improv," says Caspe, "so it takes a long time to sift through everything. We have a ton of stuff that's not in the script."

"We have four actors," says Groff, "all of them really, but four, especially Casey and Damon Wayans, who are really good at improv. They throw in extra little things."

An ordinary viewer might think that it is possible that all the footage used in a final scene could have been shot during one take, but Groff says, "You mean like one whole take through a whole scene? Never."

Back in the olden days, before the arrival of computerized Avid editing systems for television in the '90s, editors assembled an episode by physically splicing together pieces of film.

Modern editing systems allow producers and editors to more easily move around reaction shots, slip in bits from different angles, rearrange lines and scenes and even occasionally slip in a bit from an earlier take or even another scene altogether.

Since timing is everything in comedy, they can tweak and tinker to get the rhythm of a scene just right, make sure the reactions match perfectly and that there is no dead air in between lines.

Of course, if you're doing a comedy on stage, all of that has to happen at once. But on stage, the actors have weeks to rehearse, polishing the performance over and over. TV doesn't have that kind of luxury.

So time saved in rehearsal and shooting is made up for in the editing bay.

"If you don't hit your 12-hour days," says Caspe, "it's insanely expensive."

"Whereas editing," says Groff, "you can go all night long. One editor's overtime as opposed to an entire cast."

In one scene being worked on, Penny makes up a story about a fictional fiance who was on his way to the wedding when giant storms hit and changed his plans. The scene, which can't be more than a few minutes in length, is painstakingly assembled so that each gesture and line has maximum comedy potential.

Of course, sooner or later, Penny has to produce an actual, physical fiance, and ... well, you'll just have to watch.

Today's cuppa: coffee from beans I ground myself (in a blender!)

On Monday night, Fox airs the last episode ever of the freshman drama "The Chicago Code," which came on at midseason and didn't manage to earn a berth for the fall (to be fair, lots of shows that were on the bubble didn't get berths on the Fox fall schedule).

The episode, called "Mike Royko's Revenge" -- Royko was a famous Chicago columnist -- resolves the season-long pursuit by Police Superintendent Teresa Colvin (Jennifer Beals) and Detective Jarek Wysocki (Jason Clarke) of corruption charges against powerful Alderman Ronin Gibbons (Delroy Lindo).

(Click here for a promo.)

On this chilly but sunny January day, series creator Shawn Ryan is huddled in a windowless room in a fanciful building on the 20th Century Fox lot -- which he says used to house actress Shirley Temple's dressing room and dance studio, and also was where the episodes of "M*A*S*H" were written.

Ryan and his team are at work on editing the next-to-last scene of the last episode of the series, a montage backed by music, the style of which may seem familiar to viewers of Ryan's earlier show, FX's "The Shield."

While writers, directors and actors get a lot of well-deserved credit for TV shows, a great deal of what gives an episode its shape and distinctiveness comes in the editing room - and sometimes that requires a little magic.

In one part of the scene being worked on, a bit of surgery needs to be done so that the biggest dramatic moment happens when it should. That includes repeating the same actor reaction, but in two different places in the scene and from two different angles.

"Don't tell the dirty little secret about how we double the same moment from different angles," quips Ryan.

"It's this one-night-stand pickup scene," he continues, "but the way they filmed it, the hottest moment comes in the middle of the scene.

"So what we've done is we've moved the lines around. So what was this moment in the middle of the scene -- what we've created editorially is making it the end of the scene, taking some lines from the end of the scene and moving them before this.

"The audience would never know, the way they've done it."

Underneath the montage is a hauntingly lovely song called "I Dream of Chicago," by a band from Des Moines, Iowa, called Parlours. A little extra work is also required on that, stretching instrumental passages and moving lines of the chorus to make sure they hit perfectly on all the emotional high points on the screen.

"This is a song our guys found," says Ryan, a native of Rockford, Ill., near Chicago. "They're completely sort of art-school indie. Des Moines is where the Cubs Triple A team is, so there's that connection."

So, while "The Chicago Code" is coming to an end, it stays on the air just long enough to give this song a network-TV debut. If you can't wait until Monday, the video is embedded below.

Farewell to "The Chicago Code" ...

Today's cuppa: Irish breakfast tea

It's not uncommon for a show on the bubble, facing the risk of cancellation, to throw a big cliffhanger in the season finale, in hopes of teasing the network into giving it a renewal (or at least to fork over for a two-hour movie to wrap it all up).

But in the event the show does get renewed, there's the problem of digging out of the hole one has put oneself in.

On Monday night, NBC's spy romp "Chuck," which has hovered on the edge of cancellation every spring, did what the producers had good reason to fear was a series finale, but which wound up being just the finale of its penultimate season.

(R-L: Adam Baldwin, Yvonne Strahovski, Zachary Levi)

Next year, the show's fifth, has been announced as its last, so expect a season pointing almost entirely toward a big finish.

In the season finale, "Chuck Versus the Cliffhanger," after four years carrying a super-computer in his head, big-box electronics-store geek turned spy Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi) finally wed his lady love, fellow spy Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski), but had the Intersect computer forcibly removed from his head and lost his CIA gig.

But, the newlywed Bartowskis wound up in possession of a repentant arms dealer's fortune and decided to go into the freelance espionage business.

Then, because he just couldn't resist putting on a cool pair of shades -- left for Chuck by his former spy boss, Gen. Beckman (Bonita Friedericy) -- Chuck's goofy best pal, uber-geek Morgan Grimes (Joshua E. Gomez), now has the Intersect in HIS head.

Whether or not this maneuver encouraged NBC honchos to give "Chuck" one more run, now the producers have the challenge of making this big twist work. Sometimes the only thing more challenging than not getting your wish is getting your wish.

Later that same night, CBS' "Hawaii Five-0," its reboot of the Jack Lord vehicle that ran from 1968 to 1980 -- threw a bomb (literally and figuratively) into the middle of its format, something the original didn't even do in 12 seasons.

About as reality-based as "Chuck" -- which is to say, not very -- "Hawaii Five-0" is a weekly Michael Bay movie, light on grimy detective work and heavy on scenery, explosions and car chases (which, by their nature, go round and round the same island and, if they went on long enough, would inevitably wind up back where they started), interrupted by manly hugs, doses of Hawaiian shave ice and chicks in bikinis.

It focuses on former military officer Steve McGarrett (Alex O'Loughlin), who returns to Oahu to find his father's killer. The Aloha State's governor (Jean Smart) recruits him to form a task force to combat evil and corruption, providing authority, support and immunity. Thus the sturdy premise for a long-running procedural was born.

Later on, producers even tossed in a fresh version of the original McGarrett's traditional nemesis, gangster and international terrorist Wo Fat (played this time by Mark Dacascos).

(R-L: Scott Caan, Alex O'Loughlin, Grace Park, Daniel Dae Kim)

But "Hawaii Five-0" decided not to get in bed with the enemy, plot-wise. Rather than functioning as a reliable menace always hovering at the edges but never quite in McGarrett's grasp (until the series finale of the original, that is), Wo Fat became the man behind the deaths of McGarrett's parents, and as we found out last night, he was entangled with the duplicitous governor as well.

As the episode ended. McGarrett had gone rogue and was framed for Wo Fat's murder of the governor. Also, "Five-0" team member Kono Kalakaua (Grace Park) was arrested for shenanigans from earlier in the season.

That leaves remaining team members Jenna Kaye (Larisa Oleynik) and McGarrett's best bud, Danny "Danno" Williams (Scott Caan) -- who has problems of his own, since he's reconciled with his ex-wife, who is still somebody else's wife and is now pregnant, but wants to go back home to New Jersey (whatever, she's English) -- to somehow make it all right again.

As of this moment in time, "Hawaii Five-0" has yet to be renewed, but reports suggest that it's a foregone conclusion. CBS presents its new fall schedule tomorrow, which means it will likely leak out later on today.

With "Chuck's" new season assured, and another looking good for "Hawaii Five-0" (but in the TV biz, counting chickens before hatching can leave you with egg on your face), there could be some very busy writers' rooms this June.

Today's cuppa: One Irish breakfast tea bag and one English breakfast tea bag in the same mug -- my solution to world peace

Taking his campaign to promote blue-collar jobs in America to the seat of political power, "Dirty Jobs" host Mike Rowe testifies today before a committee of the U.S. Senate. Unfortunately, there's some doubt whether CSPAN2 will carry this actual hearing, but if you read the release from Discovery Channel below, you will see there is an alternative.

(BTW, he's also written an op-ed for Politico ... click here.)

DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS AND MIKE ROWE ANNOUNCE "DISCOVER YOUR SKILLS" - A MULTIMEDIA INITIATIVE TO HIGHLIGHT AND PROMOTE JOB SKILLS

-- Creator, Executive Producer and Host of Discovery Channel's DIRTY JOBS WITH MIKE ROWE to Testify Before US Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on Critical Need to Address Growing Skills Gap Among US Workforce --

(Silver Spring, Md.) - Discovery Communications and Mike Rowe, creator, executive producer and host of Discovery Channel's DIRTY JOBS WITH MIKE ROWE, today announced "Discover Your Skills," a new multimedia public affairs campaign designed to address the growing decline in US skilled labor expertise. The goal of "Discover Your Skills" is to provide unemployed and underemployed Americans with access to critical resources for obtaining marketable job skills and expertise, and to raise awareness of career opportunities.

Announcing the initiative, Rowe will testify at the invitation of Senator Rockefeller, Chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, at a hearing titled "Manufacturing Our Way to a Stronger Economy." He will relate his experiences over the past seven years on DIRTY JOBS, apprenticing alongside more than 300 skilled labor workers in nearly every industry and every state, and witnessing the critical role these workers and their occupations play in supporting the US economy. "Discover Your Skills" is a partnership with mikeroweWORKS, Rowe's own campaign to help close the skills gap, launched on Labor Day 2008.

"I'm honored to have the opportunity to speak in front of the Senate on such an important issue as our country's widening skills gap," said Rowe. "I'm no expert, and the issues are complicated, but DIRTY JOBS has offered me a unique opportunity to reconnect with the kind of people that make civilized life possible for the rest of us. With Discovery firmly behind this issue, we can reach an enormous audience. That's key, because the skills gap in our country impacts every industry, including manufacturing. It's personally important to me and critical to anyone else addicted to paved roads and indoor plumbing."

"No one is more passionate or articulate than Mike on the looming risks associated with our country's growing skills gap and the urgent need to change the misperception that skilled labor jobs are not 'good jobs,'" said David Zaslav, president and CEO of Discovery Communications. "As the #1 nonfiction media company with 14 US networks that reach more 780 million cumulative subscribers, Discovery is uniquely positioned to deliver this message to a mass audience and provide meaningful support on a national level. Like Mike, the people you see on Discovery's networks are real people, many of whom are not only television personalities, but also successful professionals working in critical areas of the economy, and we look forward to working with them to help develop and empower the next generation of skilled workers and reframe the way skilled trade jobs are perceived."

As part of "Discover Your Skills," Rowe, along with other Discovery networks' personalities, will participate in on- and off-air programs and events to raise awareness of career opportunities and highlight the importance of training workers to fill these critical jobs. Participating on-air talent have distinctive skills that are particularly valuable and needed in today's marketplace, and are credible to viewers interested in similar professions.

The initiative also will leverage Discovery Education's position as the leading provider of broadband education content and services to US schools to spotlight information on career opportunities in skilled trades and how to obtain the training and experience necessary to pursue them. This includes tools that support the development of digital literacy, math and critical thinking skills required for individuals to obtain gainful employment.

"Discover Your Skills" is part of Discovery's Impact programs, which leverage the power of Discovery's brands, businesses and employees to give back and make a direct impact on the communities in which we live and work.

The US Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee's "Manufacturing Our Way to a Stronger Economy" hearing is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, May 11. A live webcast will be available on the committee's website at http://commerce.senate.gov/public/.  

Additionally, a full transcript of Rowe's testimony will be available on the Discovery Impact website at http://impact.discovery.com.

Today's cuppa: English breakfast tea (have LOTS left over from the royal wedding)

Since 2008, Hot Cuppa TV has taken the lead in the push to get F/V Northwestern Capt. Sig Hansen of Discovery's crab-fishing mega-hit "Deadliest Catch" on ABC's ballroom-competition Monday/Tuesday powerhouse "Dancing With the Stars" (click here for a 2010 story that links back to earlier ones).

In the spring of 2010, Hansen took his quest to NBC's "The Tonight Show" -- click here for my story on that -- and even did a bit of a dance for host Jay Leno.

(Hansen also supplied these photos of himself in some wild dancing outfits)

Since then, the effort has taken a back seat to dealing with the death of Capt. Phil Harris and overcoming some legal and contractual difficulties involving Hansen and brothers Andy and Johnathan Hillstrand, co-captains of the F/V Time Bandit, on the way to filming the current season of "Deadliest Catch," airing now on Tuesdays.

"Sig's a great guy," says Andy Hillstrand. "We love that guy. We're happy. It was a frigging rough year last year. It's all over now. We were just at the New York upfront (for the Discovery Networks), talked to all the big muckety-mucks, so we're moving forward."

But Hansen has not given up on his "Dancing" dream, and he has the support of the Hillstrand brothers. The three have been touring the U.S. with a stage show -- click here for a review of a performance.

(Photo: Andy Hillstrand on left, Johnathan Hillstrand on right)

"No," says Andy Hillstrand, "Sig has not given up. He is going to get on 'Dancing With the Stars' at some point in time. I want to be in the front row to cheer him on. That would be a howl.

"He's not a bad little dancer, and he'd be in the best shape of his life after eight hours a day dancing!"

Asked if Hansen might finally have to give up smoking, Hillstrand says, "Yeah, it's either that or start using oxygen."

Hillstrand continues, "I'm hoping Sig gets on that show so bad. It would be cool. People would never respect him or talk to him again, but it'd be bada--. The reality is, we've been on a TV show for six years, and he has been on for seven. We are TV guys now.

"We fought it tooth and nail, but that's our reality. We're TV stars and crab fishermen. Those are our businesses. We don't ever forget that. We'll still be fishing when TV's done and running the business."

Hillstrand also wouldn't mind being on NBC's Sunday reality hit "The Celebrity Apprentice," overseen by possible presidential candidate Donald Trump (standing, yellow tie, just to the left of center), but he might want to take a firm hand with his fellow apprentices.

"I would kick their a--," Hillstrand says. "They give them these tasks on 'Celebrity Apprentice,' and they don't pull through, and you can't just physically beat them up? I would can their a--. I would go, 'You're fired.'

"If you're the team leader, and you can't fire that jacka-- for not doing his job, or beat him up, what the hell? Why even bother?"

As for Trump's flirtation with being president, Hillstrand says, "I would love to see him president, just to shake stuff up there."

Speaking of shaking things up, Hillstrand says he and his brother played an epic practical joke on Hansen, which will be seen in this season of "Deadliest Catch."

"The prank this year," he says, "is so amazing. It's unbelievable. This one tops it. It's a work of art."