Kate O'Hare's Hot Cuppa TV

'Deadliest Warrior' -- Dead Pig, Mutilated Bodies & Sharp Things!

2009-11-18T20:15:15Z

Today's cuppa: Newman's Own Royal Tea

This past Monday, I headed to a warehouse in downtown Los Angeles to visit the set of Spike TV's "Deadliest Warrior," in which fighting techniques are discussed and demonstrated, and different types of warriors square off each week.

New episodes don't start until Spring 2010, but here's a sneak peek at one episode (for larger, much larger images, right click and open the link in a new tab or window) ...

To start with, here's some broad looks at the set:

An unfortunate ballstic-gel body, when mixed-martial-artist Rashad Evans was done with it ...

Here's a ballistic-gel body that already had a bad day ...

I also visited the downstairs area where the weapons and costumes are created ...

There was also a skinned, headless dead pig that had as bad a day as the ballistic-gel body, but we'll save that one for the story itself ...

Stay tuned.

My Opinion ... of Opinion Journalism

2009-11-17T20:04:10Z

Today's cuppa: Newman's Own Royal Tea chased with office coffee

(Below: printing press and other memorabilia at the headquarters of the Los Angeles Times)

With Lou Dobbs' departure from CNN, there's a great deal of chatter about opinion journalism -- or advocacy journalism or commentary or the Op-Ed page of your local paper, whatever you want to call it -- and whether it's a hazard to the republic.

As a Founding Father might say, poppycock.

All our Founders wanted was a free press, and that means a press free to talk about whatever it deems fit, and believe you me, the press needled our early presidents just as much as it needles our recent ones.

Of course, that doesn't mean even the Founders liked it.

We got all the way to our second president before the battle began ...

John Adams on press regulation

"If there is ever to be an amelioration of the condition of mankind, philosophers, theologians, legislators, politicians and moralists will find that the regulation of the press is the most difficult, dangerous and important they have to resolve ".

So wrote John Adams, who had been the second President of the USA, to his friend John Lloyd on 11 February 1815. The quote was used as an epigraph to their 1947 report by the Commission on Freedom of the Press, aka the Hutchins Commission.

Click here for the original.

So the fact that that an elected leader doesn't like the press is neither here nor there. Our right to a free press is enshrined in the First Amendment of the Constitution, which means it is a fundamental right, not given to us or able to be removed from us by a politician. The press doesn't exist by the leave of any politician, and it is not answerable to them.

Oh, it's answerable to a whole bunch of other people -- from publishers to advertisers to, most importantly, readers and viewers -- but not to the government (at least not yet, despite the specter of a newspaper bailout hovering around).

And if you think today's commentators or news organizations are slanted, you should look at what Adams had to deal with. The tradition of an impartial press is a recent invention -- but a noble goal.

I don't know if humans (and journalists are still humans) can ever be truly impartial. Probably the best we can hope for -- and the least we should demand from journalists who cover hard news -- is fairness and a willingness to follow the facts wherever they lead, whether or not the truth uncovered agrees with the the journalist's or the news organization's worldview.

But as for opinion commentary, as long as it's labeled as such, I have no issue with it. Nobody has any trouble understanding the distinction between Page One and the Op-Ed Page. TV is no different. There needs to be a bright line between news anchors and commentators, and as long as there is -- and unfortunately, that's not always the case -- I believe people are bright enough to figure it out.

Oh, but critics claim, people will get all their news from commentators! They won't listen to us! Well, that's the power of free will and choice. If you want people to listen to your news, make it interesting and compelling, produce it well, and give it the ring of truth and honesty. Just because someone watches opinion shows doesn't automatically mean they won't watch news shows.

But nobody wants to watch boring news shows, no matter how solid their reporting is. People have choices now in media. It's not just the daily newspaper and the nightly network news. If you want to be read or listened to, you just might have to work harder. One reason opinion shows are so popular is they're not boring.

And anyone who wants to squelch popular opinion commentators -- whether in print, online, on TV or on the radio -- to protect their own piece of the pie needs to reread that First Amendment.

There's a reason it's called the free marketplace of ideas, not the protected reserve of ideas.

But can opinion commentators report news? News is news, no matter whether it comes over the back fence, in a pennysaver paper or on television. Opinion commentators can break news, but if they are, that might mean that the actual news reporters are a little slow on the uptake.

When's the last time that the Op-Ed page scooped a print investigative journalist?

The media environment isn't going to get any less competitive or cutthroat. If anything, the choices will keep proliferating exponentially. For those news organizations who've spent a few decades with comfortable near-monopolies and now cry foul -- tough.

As one of my favorite quotes says:

"If you don't like change, you're going to like irrelevance even less." General Eric Shinseki, Chief of Staff, U.S. Army.

BTW, here's a test. If all opinion commentators agreed with your opinion, would you have an issue with the existence of opinion commentary?

Sauce for the goose ...

Rick Springfield Gets Naked -- on 'Californication'

2009-11-15T17:35:24Z

Today's cuppa: Newman's Own Royal Tea (fit for a TV Czarina!)

Tonight, musician and actor Rick Springfield appears on Showtime's "Californication," playing Rick Springfield, degenerate musician.

Below find my story with Springfield from a little earlier in the month. It's part of a conversation we had -- with Springfield's rescued dog in attendance -- at the "Californication" sets in Culver City.

There's a lot more to our chat, including Springfield's days entertaining the troops (and sustaining mortar fire) in Vietnam.

Yeah, Vietnam. Dang, the boy still looks good, and you'll get to see that for yourselves when he flirts with nudity on Showtime, and hear more about his adventures before his next episode airs on Nov. 22.

Without further ado ...

Rick Springfield only plays Rick Springfield on TV
By Kate O'HareSTV ONTV DR PAGES.n01

On the current season of Showtime's racy comedy "Californication," airing Sundays, rock musician and actor Rick Springfield plays rock musician Rick Springfield. While there's plenty of wild rocker behavior, there's no actual rock.

"No," he says, "it's just the acting thing. I don't touch a guitar.

"I've acted a lot of different things in my life, but I used to be averse to playing a musician, but now I think it's fine. You have an in there, just because you are a musician, but it's still acting.

"There may be some elements of it that refer to Rick Springfield's life, but the gig is basically an acting gig. I have to say those lines; I have to be truthful in them. I have to do certain things that I sure don't do in my real life."

Even though the Australian-born Springfield, 60, has acted for quite some time - including a long stint on "General Hospital" - he's not often recognized as an actor.

"Occasionally," he says, "you'll get a person who goes, 'You're that soap opera guy!' but most of them, it's because of music. Music goes deeper into people's psyches."

Asked who yells out the title of Springfield's 1981 hit, "Jessie's Girl," he says, "Pretty much everybody. There are two songs that bar bands in Vegas play to get the crowd up- one of them is 'Don't Stop Believin',' the Journey song, and the other one is 'Jessie's Girl.'

"In a backhanded compliment, Rolling Stone listed' Jessie's Girl' last year as the No. 1 karaoke song."

While Springfield calls his "Californication" character a "perverse version" of himself, that doesn't mean he was a choirboy in his younger days.

"I was a bad boy, that whole thing," he says. "My fall from grace was the death of my dad. I did drugs earlier. I was more of an acid guy. I was never into blow that much; I smoked dope at times.

"But I've always been so driven and ambitious that when I'd feel something taking over or I got into pot for a while, and acid ... I almost OD'd. That got me off it forever.

"When I'd feel it got to take over my real time for what I wanted to do, I could cut it out, because I knew it was interfering."

But as to whether he'd ever choose between acting and music, Springfield says, "I'll always write. I'll always be a musician. I love performing onstage. We always surprise people with the power of the live show.

"It's very interactive; it's very personal. That's how I relate to people. That's really why I perform. I'm pretty shy most of the time and can't be bothered."

Springfield credits his wife, Barbara - with whom he has two sons - with his current happy existence, but he did live the wild life.

"I was a young guy who, in all his young life, wanted to have sex and hadn't got it," he says. "I was never the handsome guy in school. I was always a loner, arty, kind of dark, a loner. I was the one made fun of. If I got someone, I kept it really quiet.

"here's something that drives you into music and performing, and it's not that you're that popular with the girls."

He's also worked hard to avoid being a flash in the pan.

"The live shows now are the best shows we've ever done, the band and me," he says. "I never wanted to kind of die away. If you've got a lot of experience behind you, that counts if you're still in shape and can deliver."

Springfield also never forgets that he's not alone onstage, and for that he credits his father, a military officer.

"From my dad," he says, "I've always tried to treat people with respect. The band's been with me for 12 years, because I treat us like a band. They've certainly been with artists who treat them like sidemen and give them s---.

"I learned (from my dad) that I'd rather have friends out there than employees, because it's much more fun."

Wait! Just because I like you, here's a little bit extra from Springfield ...

On finding his inner wild man:

"I have to say these lines. I have to be truthful in them. I have to do certain things that I sure don't do in my real life. I've had a long time at being a musician, so I have done a lot of things that I can certainly use, but that's the same with any part.

"You've never killed someone, but if you play a murderer, you use whatever part of your could kill someone. That guy on the highway who cuts you off, if you had a gun, you'd shoot him right in the head. That's the part you tap into.

"So I tap into whatever parts of me are wild and hedonistic. They're certainly still there in different guises, but that's what an actor does. The best ones I know are the great American actors who come from the Actors Studio and use the real sh-t of what's inside them.

"Certainly that's what I aspire to be, that type of actor."

On the boot camp of daytime TV:

"You're hitting marks; you're talking to somebody; you're doing a lot of dialogue. It's all about dialogue, because there's no action in soaps. It really is the hardest acting and writing gig in TV.

"This is something that is a great boot camp for beginning actors. It's probably nothing I'd want to retire into, because it is so much work."

She Blinks to Conquer -- Morena Baccarin of 'V'

2009-11-10T18:45:55Z

Today's cuppa: office coffee

ABC's remake of "V" hit big in the ratings when it premiered last Tuesday (a new episode airs tonight) and also stirred up a bit of controversy, with some claiming it's a veiled (or not so veiled, depending whom you ask) criticism of the current administration, and others claiming it's just a show about disguised aliens coming to Earth and promising hope, change and universal healthcare in exchange for unquestioning devotion.

As you can see from my poll on the subject, opinion is mixed.

And for two opposing views of of the actual or perceived intent behind the story, click here and here ...and for my original feature story plus extra comments from the producers, click here.

Whatever you think the show is really about, one thing's for sure -- it's really a TV show, and it got really good ratings, which is really good news for star Morena Baccarin, who plays Anna, the beguiling alien leader.

Here are the highlights of a brief chat we had after the "V" premiere:

Q: What did you think when you realized "V" was a hit?

A: Wow, holy sh-t. I think it's great. It's a little bit surprising, but at the same time not, because people are really excited about it, and we are very excited about it.

Q: To what do you attribute the success?

A: The show being great. It's a story that people are fascinated by -- the alien invasion thing, the idea that there's something out there besides us. I think that the writers and everybody have done such a great job of embodying that, the fear and vulnerability, matching it to the sensibilities of today.

Q: You did generate controversy, which doesn't seem right now to be a negative.

A: You mean with the Obama stuff? It's really funny. We're not necessarily saying those things, but it's OK if people want to talk about it. It's par for the course when you put something out there.

Q: After all, haven't people always have theories about what TV shows are really saying or what's really going on in the world?

A: Of course. Isn't there an actual group of underground people who believe there are lizards among us?

(As it turns out, Baccarin is right about that. Click here.)

Q: In the original, the aliens were seeking to eat our small furry animals -- and also us. Is that the agenda this time around?

A: You know, I wish I could answer that question, but they haven't told me, if you can believe it. I don't know a hundred percent why we're here, but you'll get to find out when you see episodes a little bit more. They answer the question a little bit more. We still want to keep that mystery going, but it'll be interesting to see how it develops.

It's a little more complicated than the original. I don't think we're just saying, "We're coming down here; we're going to eat you and take over the Earth." There's a lot more to it than that.

Q: The show has undergone several changes behind the scenes, making some new fans nervous about prospects for the future. From your point of view, do the next three episodes -- which finish out the four that have been produced at this point -- hold up to the premiere?

A: They do, absolutely. I don't know, again, the politics of all of that, but the changes have been made in order to maintain the work that we've been doing, so I have confidence in that. People don't need to worry about that. Just watch the show. It's great.

Q: I hear you go back to work on the show in Vancouver, Canada, in January. Is that true?

A: I think we go back, Jan. 20, around then, and then we'll shoot a block of nine episodes. I'm not sure what the plan is on how we're going to air them (HCTV: click here for the last official word on that), but we'll be waiting a little bit. We only have four done, and a little suspense is good. That's the plan.

Q: What more have you -- or will we -- learn about Anna?

A: Anna is a very complicated character, so with every episode we get, we see a little side of her. I'm trying to think of things I can actually say. It's hard. I find it so difficult to do interviews, because I can't tell everybody what we're doing. You get to see more qualities and more emotions and more of her dealing with day-to-day stuff. There are some interesting plot and character turns there.

Q: Since we know that the Visitors are really reptilians under the skin, are you working on finding your inner lizard?

A: Definitely finding my inner lizard and moving on from there. I'm shying away from playing a lizard or playing an alien. That would be a trap to fall into, especially if she were robotic or different in that sense.

What I'm trying to do is be as human as possible, and when you try to do that, something happens, and it becomes a little odd, which is a quality that you can't really target. They always tell you in acting class that if you want to play drunk, just try to play sober.

Q: The promos emphasize Anna's rapid eye blinks. Is that your way of hinting at her reptilian reality?

A: (Laughs) I don't know what you're talking about.

'Atlas Cannot Shrug' -- LL Cool J of 'NCIS: Los Angeles'

2009-11-09T17:09:05Z

Today's cuppa: English afternoon tea

On CBS' hit freshman series, "NCIS: Los Angeles," airing Tuesday (it's a spin-off of "NCIS," which airs right before it), rapper/actor LL Cool J (a.k.a. James Todd Smith, or just "Todd" on the set) plays Special Agent Sam Hanna of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, who is also a former Navy SEAL.

Asked if he feels the weight of the responsibility of portraying an alumnus of one of America's elite military units, LL Cool J says, "Oh, Atlas cannot shrug, He can't shrug. He must keep the world up on his shoulders, and that's what I'm trying to do.

"Some Special Ops (agents) came by yesterday, actually, and they seemed to be really excited about how we're portraying them and how we are representing them, when we're out in the world, because the show is obviously showing in other countries.

"I'm happy that they are pleased, because ultimately these are some of the people who have to protect our freedom and protect democracy, so we want to represent them properly. That's another part of our responsibilities as actors, when we play these characters, to make sure these guys are seen in the right light.

"That's important to the future of our nation."

Reminded that some recent feature films have taken a more negative view of America's military, LL Cool J says, "You've got to be careful. At the end of the day, we have to be loyal to our values and the principles that built our country, especially if these characters are being seen by potentially millions and millions of people every week.

"We can have some fun and do some interesting stories, but they still need to represent our guys the right way. I think all of us agree that that is the right way to do it."

It's also part of LL Cool J's personal history.

"My family is very pro-American," he says. "My grandfather used to sit me in his lap, and we would watch all of the old World War II shows that used to come on, back in the day. I'm totally on it, totally into it, and I love it. My grandfather, even after we said grace, he would say, 'Chow!'

"Then my grandmother would chime in with the Cuban Missile Crisis and what that was about, So I grew up hearing that kind of stuff.

"My grandmother used to tell me, 'If a task is once begun, never leave it till it's done; be thy labor great or small, do it well or not at all.'"

So, who is LL Cool J's favorite Founding Father?

"You know what," he says, "that's a good question, interesting question. My favorite Founding Father .. wow. Benjamin Franklin was brilliant. I think I will go with Benjamin Franklin first. I would go with Jefferson and then Adams, but I would go with Franklin.

"When he talked about wealth ... his 'Poor Richard's Almanack' was amazing. Him being a scientist; him being an author; him being a businessman; him being an entrepreneur; him being a guy who understood how important it was to be conservative when it came to a dollar, and conserve your wealth.

"I just thought he was a very wise guy. I would go with Franklin.

LL Cool J also admires another American entrepreneur.

"He's obviously not a Founding Father, but you could fast-forward to guys like (Thomas) Edison. These weren't necessarily the most (formally) educated guys, but he know how to put the right people in the right places and ask the right questions and get things going.

"But I think that's the beauty of our nation. That's part of the beauty of America and why it works, because it's not just about specialized knowledge. It's also about vision; it's also about ambition; it's also about your attitude and your ability to mobilize people.

"You can succeed whether or not you have that specialized knowledge. I think that makes a huge difference in this country."

And while most of LL Cool J's reading these days consists, he says, of "NCIS: Los Angeles" scripts, it's no accident that he made the reference to Atlas shrugging.

"I don't necessarily subscribe to all her beliefs," he says, "but I do like Ayn Rand. That's why I made the 'Atlas Shrugged' comment. I think she's interesting. I don't do the atheist thing; I believe in God. But some of it works for me.

"'The Fountainhead' was interesting, those characters, just the idea of you being the architect of your own fortune."

And he doesn't stop with Rand.

"I do a lot of reading," he says. "I read the Bible. That's great. I like Florence Scovel Shinn, 'The Game of Life,' I like her. I think she's very interesting as well. I do a lot of reading."

140C: Picturing Twitter, a Kodak Moment

2009-11-07T02:25:41Z

Recently, I attended the Los Angeles version of the 140 Characters Conference, which focused on ways disparate groups of people are using the microblogging service called Twitter.

(Yeah, that also means yours truly.)

That included some familiar TV faces, such as Billy Bush of "Access Hollywood," who has used Twitter to put out breaking news (and correct Perez Hilton, or so he says) and "Heroes" executive producer Tim Kring, who's really into something called "transmedia storytelling."

Speaking of 'Heroes," I sat down at the conference for an impromptu chat with the Puppetmaster himself, David H. Lawrence XVII (that's 17 for the Roman-numeral-challenged, like me).

More on that later, but first, some business -- as in big business.

Before my chance encounter with Lawrence -- who's become a bit of a Twitter-lebrity -- I sat down with Kodak CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) Jeffrey Hayzlett, a Twitter star in his own right, who was also one of the conference speakers (as you can see from my photo).

The venerable camera company was one of the sponsors of the event, which was held in its own Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, home to the Academy Awards.

Hayzlett has appeared on an earlier edition of NBC's "The Celebrity Apprentice" -- click here for the behind-the-scenes of it all -- and he'll be back in the new season of the show. He's also acquainted with its executive producer, reality guru Mark Burnett, and a big fan of his "Shark Tank" on ABC (as am I -- click here and here for proof of that).

Here's a sample of our conversation:

On why people are wrong not to think of Kodak when they think of social media like Twitter:

JH: We have changed it. When people say, "What company gets it?", they think of Kodak now, at least those in the Twitterati.

On what a camera company has to do with 140-character tweets:

JH: Seventy percent of our business is digital. I mentioned this to other folks earlier -- we've got our mojo back in that regard. When you think about Twitter, it says, "What am I doing? Where am I at? What am I up to?" Really, Kodak's always been about sharing those moments and sharing life, and to me they're one and the same.

Why Kodak has gone feet first into social media:

JH: Seriously, it's about connecting with people. You can't lose. Nothing's going to happen. You can't lose. The only resistance (in the company was) "What is it?"

On the risks of being transparent on Twitter:

JH: Have we made mistakes? Yeah. I've personally made mistakes, where I Twittered out something 12 hours before it was supposed to happen -- something where we'd worked a year and a half on it. I accidentally hit the button. I was able to regroup and get a couple of people to stop re-tweeting it.

You make those kind of mistakes, but nobody intentionally tries to do anything, and that's the key thing you want to remember. If you do it, you're only going to do it once inside of a big company, because we're going to make the changes.

On why Twitter and other social media does not substitute for traditional advertising and consumer outreach:

JH: You can't get to them all. They're not all on Twitter; they're not all on Facebook; they're not all on Kodak Gallery. It's not how people always want to get their information, so it's only reaching those people who want to get it in that manner. That's not your only source of information.

So there's not an absolute when it comes to social media, nor is there an absolute when it comes to normal media channels. You don't just watch television and not read the newspapers. Quite frankly, a lot of the people in the Twittersphere and online, they think everything else is nonexistent.

I then told Hayzlett that I was headed that afternoon over to the set of NBC's "Community," and it turns out he's a fan.

JH: It's a good show. It's a great show. I love Chevy Chase.

In past seasons of "The Celebrity Apprentice," some celebrities have had trouble with their work ethic. According to Hayzlett, that's not the case this time around.

JH: Actually, they worked pretty hard.

For more on the 140 Characters conference, click here for "The Spark: not just another Twitter conference," the latest film from eGuiders founder Marc Ostrick and fellow filmmaker Michael Sean Wright.

When you're done with that, you can check out "the new dial tone," the first film in the "Spark" series, shot at the recent BlogWorldExpo in Las Vegas.

And when you're done with that, you can check out my own video recommendations on eGuiders.

Hot Cuppa Radio! Texas Tragedy, 'V' and More

2009-11-07T02:14:36Z

Today's cuppa: more Irish breakfast tea than one person should consume in a day

Click here for my regular Thursday appearance on Shaun Daily's TV Talk show on blogtalkradio.com, in which we talk about the TV coverage of the mass shooting at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas -- which happened earlier in the day and was still, in many ways, an evolving story-- along with the big ratings for the premiere of "V" and more.

I come in at about the half-hour mark and yap just a leeetle over my usual 30 minutes.

ABC's 'V' -- Twitter/Blog Poll!

2009-11-05T00:58:48Z

Tonight's cuppa: fast-food coffee

Deep in transcribing hell for a big week of features -- and probably some set visits -- next week, but couldn't resist tossing up a quick poll about last night's premiere of ABC's "V," which was a ratings and demo smash (some critics even liked it as well).

There's some controversy -- expressed here by my good pal Glenn Garvin -- about whether the drama was referring to the current administration.

As always, Cuppers, I leave that up to you. This poll is also on Twitter, but vote away here as well:

ABC's 'V' -- Old Foes in New Skins (UPDATED)

2009-11-02T16:56:53Z

Today's cuppa: Irish breakfast tea (contemplating a switch to chai ... Hmmmm)

On Tuesday night, ABC premieres "V," its remake of the 1980s science-fiction TV classic of the same name.

As it turns out, the new version is pretty darn good (at least the pilot, which is all I've seen).

Below find the full text of the feature story I wrote this week. As you'll discover when you read it, I was unable to talk to the producers (interviews were scheduled, then canceled).

The ABC publicist asked if I could go with what they said at press tour, but since that was back in early August, and a lot had changed with the show in the meantime, I just couldn't.

After the feature story, though, you'll find an exchange between yours truly and the producers at the Television Critics Association Press Tour, which touches on some of the most controversial aspects of "V" (and just how controversial they remain after the shutdown for "script issues," I confess, I have no idea. But, for what it's worth, I have a lot of respect for executive producers Scott Peters and Jeffrey Bell, so we'll see.).

So, read, watch and, as always, make up your own mind.

First up, the story:

'V' pours old foes into new skins for sci-fi remake

By Kate O'Hare

Ã‚Â©Zap2it

Back in 1983, NBC aired the two-part science-fiction miniseries "V," written and directed by Kenneth Johnson. In 1984, NBC followed with another hit miniseries, "V: The Final Battle."

Despite that title, the network forged on with "V: The Series" later in 1984, with most of the original cast (but not Johnson). It was short-lived and just plain bad.

Normally, this sort of a history would bode better for a miniseries remake than a series, but on the other hand, "Battlestar Galactica" was a hit pilot that turned into a flop series in the '70s, only to be revived in this decade as a critically acclaimed miniseries and series.

So one could forgive ABC and Warner Bros. Television for being a little confused over exactly what to do with their "V" remake, premiering Tuesday, Nov. 3.

Layer on top of that a byproduct of timing, partly caused by a strike-induced delay, which lands the new "V" practically on top of the anniversary of last year's presidential election with a pilot that contains such hot buzzwords as "hope," "change" and "universal health care."

As if that wasn't enough, stir in a production hiatus for "script issues," followed by a rollout schedule that calls for four initial episodes, with the rest held until after the Winter Olympics in March.

It's enough to give an executive producer fits, which may explain why executive producers/writers Scott Peters ("The 4400") and Jeffrey Bell ("Angel," "Alias") weren't available this fall to talk about the show.

But stars Morena Baccarin and Scott Wolf were. Starring with them in "V" are Elizabeth Mitchell ("Lost") as an FBI counterterrorism agent, Logan Huffman as her teenage son, Joel Gretsch ("The 4400") as a worried priest and Morris Chestnut ("Boyz N the Hood") as a man with a secret who faces a life-altering decision.

Baccarin ("Firefly") plays Anna, the enigmatic leader of aliens calling themselves the Visitors (or "Vs" for short), who hover gigantic spaceships over every major city in the world, scaring the pants off everybody. Anna then appears and offers a message of peace and advanced technology, just as long as the Vs get the slavish devotion of every human being on Earth.

Wolf plays ambitious news anchor Chad Decker, who lands an exclusive interview with Anna, only to discover he's expected to play ball and make the Vs look good, or else no chat.

Unfortunately for journalistic ethics everywhere, Decker folds like a cheap suit.

But all may not be lost for this Anderson Cooper wannabe.

"In that moment," Wolf says, "obviously he's been put in a position where he's got two very difficult choices to make. One is to be a real sucker, and the other is to potentially give up the best opportunity he'll ever have.

"What Scott thought of Chad in that moment was that he's actually smart enough to believe, or to know, that he'll find a way to make it right, that this opportunity won't come back again.

"He can reclaim his integrity, but this opportunity is once in a lifetime."

If you haven't seen the original "V," stop reading right now, because anyone who has knows that the Visitors are only human on the surface, with a reptilian reality lurking within. But we're not talking hulking crocodiles here; these lizards can hold their own with higher primates.

"I like how controlled and smart and calculating she is," Baccarin says of Anna, "that she's able to learn from humans and manipulate them and be who she thinks they want her to be, so she can get what she wants.

"I like the nuances of that."

So as the alien leader, Anna is a consummate politician.

"Exactly," Baccarin says. "It's all about getting people to trust you, so you have to present yourself and do things that will get that, even if they're not entirely true."

While she says she didn't base Anna on any particular political figure, Baccarin did learn from recent history.

"Obviously," she says, "we were all very captivated by the presidential election, so I watched a lot of the debates and things in general. That, I'm sure, helped me figure out what I wanted to do a little bit."

As for the stops and starts of "V" so far, Wolf says, "Stay with us. I don't want to say I know - because none of us ever knows anything really - but I believe people are going to tune in to see this show, and I believe they are going to be excited.

"As unnerving as any kinds of bumps in the road can get for all of us, I know that every decision that's been made is in the long-term best interests of the show and the story.

"So to me, I've not veered from my excitement and belief in the show at all."

All that having been said, here are excerpts from the press-tour session from Aug. 8, starting with my question and Scott Peters' answer:

KO: Some of the words in the pilot associated with the Visitor agenda are "hope" and "change" and "universal health care." So was that intentional, or are you just freakishly prescient?

SCOTT PETERS: Freakishly prescient.

ELIZABETH MITCHELL: Wow.

KO: And now that you are here and we are in this situation and you are airing it in November, are you going to play off that, or how are you going to work with that?

SCOTT PETERS: You know, because of the Writers' Guild strike, this show has been in development for a long time, and I just felt, to me, it was, you know, certainly -- it wasn't sort of -- we are not looking to put any sort of agenda onto the table, but I think that anybody -- you know, I wake up in the morning and you look at the news, and you see, you know, there's wars, there's new diseases being discovered, there's old diseases that are still -- we are dealing with. There's -- the economy is in the toilet. There are people losing their homes. Wouldn't it be awesome if 29 ships showed up and they all said, "We've got this. We'll take care of you. Don't worry about it"? Wouldn't this be great? And so, I mean, that's really where hope and change came from. It's just like the world -- Joel has a line in the pilot that says, you know, "The world is in bad shape, Father. Who wouldn't welcome a savior?" And I think that's a pretty interesting thesis statement. So that's kind of where this whole thing sort of came from. And, listen, I think that shows are open to interpretation. People have subjective -- bring subjective thoughts to it. And if you want to ascribe, you know, those words to the Visitors or to whatever is going on in our society, that's sort of up to the viewer, but there's no particular agenda to, you know, hone in on those specific things.

Other reporters picked up the thread a few minutes later, and here's Jeffrey Bell's response to the issue:

JEFFREY BELL: Look, there are always going to be people who will look for agendas in everything. This show was conceived during the Bush administration. It got executed in an Obama administration. There are people on either sides of the aisle who can find things. You can say, "Yeah, look how stupid these people are for following blindly and believing everything the government is saying," and you can have people who are upset about that. And you can have other people saying, "Look at these people who are promising everything at no cost, and look, they are leading them to their own doom." And so, for us, both sides have strengths and weaknesses. And if you want to talk about a fantastic -- let's get people to show up and watch it and talk about it.

UPDATE: Showrunner shakeup announced today, Nov. 3 (premiere day), replacing Scott Peters in that position and likely resulting in Jeff Bell's departure. The guy coming in has good creds, but this stuff seldom turns out well. Fingers crossed.

'Torn Between Two Lovers' -- Sonya Walger of 'FlashForward'

2009-10-29T14:49:57Z

Today's cuppa: one bag each of Christmas Morning and English afternoon tea -- livin' on the edge, here.

Take three hot Brits, stir well and whaddya get?

Ratings -- or so ABC hopes, and they might not be wrong in this.

On the hit Thursday sci-fi drama "FlashForward," Sonya Walger ('Lost") plays Los Angeles surgeon Dr. Olivia Benford, who's married to recovering alcoholic FBI Agent Mark Benford (Joseph Fiennes, "Shakespeare in Love") -- the two are pictured together below -- but in her two-minute-plus blackout vision of the future, she was having warm, squishy feelings for a total stranger (Jack Davenport, "Coupling," "Pirates of the Caribbean"), who has turned out to be the loving dad of one of her kid patients.

Olivia, though, shares her experience with the whole human population (OK, almost all of it), which blacked out simultaneously and got a quick glimpse of the world on a day in April, 2010.

As a loyal and supportive wife, Olivia doesn't want to believe that her flash-forward will come true, and Walger is keeping an open mind.

"No, I haven't decided at all (if it will happen)," she says. "I just play each scene and each script as it comes. All of us, at some point wonder how it would inevitably dictate your behavior to get a glimpse of the future, especially in a way that felt so real, that wasn't just a fortuneteller in a tent predicting something, but in a way where you actually physically, experienced it and smelled it and tasted it, where it was palpable to you -- how very compelling that would be."

Interestingly, of the three British actors involved in this potential love triangle, only one of them -- Davenport -- gets to use his native accent.

"I'm not bothered at all," Walger says (using her own British accent). "I've been here for eight years, so I'm so used to playing American characters that it's strange to use my own accent. I'm not remotely bothered by it.

"I don't even hear it (when Davenport) speaks. I really don't. I don't hear the difference anymore."

It is interesting to have an American drama with, not one, but three British actors in leading roles (and a fourth, Dominic Monaghan, late of "Lost," has just joined the cast, but he's not another potential lover for Olivia -- at least not yet).

"I know!" Walger says. "It's extraordinary. I keep waiting for immigration to come and confiscate my green card, but I think it's working."

Even though Britain is a relatively small country, and Hollywood is a pretty small professional community -- and the cast of "Lost" probably do get together at lunch -- Walger says, "I'd never met any of them. I'd never met Joseph or Jack or even Dominic. Yes, very strange."

Asked what her biggest "FlashForward" challenge is, Walger says, "I'm going to say, the medical stuff weighs on me a huge amount. There are operations I have to do, and I've loved it, absolutely loved it.

"They've been some of the toughest things of my career, knowing exactly what to ask for and when to ask for it, with a team of people looking to me to get the scene right, and incredibly expensive prosthetics, fake blood everywhere and all of that.

"Just on a practical level, that's been one of the most challenging things, but it's interesting."

On the flip side, the doctor costume is a breeze.

"The scrubs are fantastic," Walger says. "You can breathe in them and let your tummy hang out. It's wonderful. I love my scrubs."

At the same time as she's juggling surgical instruments and wearing jammies to work, Olivia is worrying that her husband will fall off the wagon (he was pretty liquored-up in his flash-forward) and that she'll wind up throwing over one handsome brunet for another.

(Jack Davenport, left)

"It's wonderful," says Walger. "I love playing women that have a lot going on. It's reflective of life as we live it. None of us is able to deal with just one thing in our lives. It's interesting that Olivia is so determined to steer this course, against all the odds, swimming against the tide.

"She's trying to be a mum, trying to be the best doctor she can be, trying to be the mentor of interns, trying to be wife to Mark but still trying to be honest and upfront about what she's going through, but at the same time sensing that there are things he's not telling her.

"She's a really rich character with huge demands being made of her. I love it."

What if newlywed Sonya Walger had a flash-forward in which she was with a man other than her husband, writer/producer/playwright Davey Holmes?

"I'd be devastated. That's why I really empathize with Olivia. I'd be absolutely devastated, and I'd be doing everything I could to not let that happen."

But, is there any handsome fella whose appearance in said flash-forward might tempt Walker to feel slightly less guilty about forbidden fruit?

"Only my husband," she says.

Good answer.

Who's Evolving Whom? PBS Examines 'The Botany of Desire'

2009-10-28T04:51:11Z

Tonight's cuppa: peppermint tea

When I'm not watching TV for fun and profit, I'm a gardener. I wasn't always one. When I was young, I was very good at killing plants, until I realized that I didn't know anything and started reading books on the subject and then doing what the books told me to do.

Of course, like any gardener, every now I and then I get puffed up with confidence about my ability to beat nature at her own game, and need a harsh reminder (as chronicled in this blog post) to go with the natural flow.

We humans may think we're the kings and queens of Earth, and that we make the natural world bend to our will, but as often as not, the reverse is probably true.

If you look at the criteria of abundance and distribution of a species as marks of evolutionary success, then we've been at least as good for dogs, cats, horses, cows, chickens, hamsters, camels, pigs, corn, wheat and soybeans as they've been for us, and we definitely come out on the short end of the stick with cockroaches, rats, crabgrass and bedbugs.

We evolved on Planet Earth too, and as far as we try to remove ourselves from nature, it's temporary at best and usually just an illusion.

On Wednesday, Oct. 28, PBS premieres "The Botany of Desire," based on the book of the same name by author and avid gardener Michael Pollan (BTW, it's an absorbing, thoughtful and entertaining read, and I recommend it whether or not you watch the special).

The two-hour documentary looks at four of our favorite plants -- apples, tulips, cannabis and potatoes -- and examines how their natural histories have become entwined with our desires for, respectively, sweetness, beauty, intoxication and control.

As it turns out, the familiar apple is an honest-to-goodness wild thing, made to breed true only by cloning; our housing boom and bust are nothing compared to the Dutch tulip mania of 1637; cannabis' complex molecules have a surprising relationship to our brains; and potatoes are a whole lot more than a McDonald's french fry.

Even watched on my laptop screen earlier tonight because of a power outage in windy Los Angeles (I understand it hit CBS' Craig Ferguson during taping of his show), "The Botany of Desire" is a gorgeous piece of filmmaking, and Pollan is an engaging and non-stuffy guide to a world he evidently loves (honestly, read the book for the bit on the, to put it mildly, eccentric John "Johnny Appleseed" Chapman, if nothing else).

I guarantee that if you read, watch or both, you may never look at plants quite the same way again. I'm not talking about a "Little Shop of Horrors" man-eating plant moment or anything like that, but you may rethink who's evolving whom, here.

After all, you don't fool with Mother Nature -- she fools with you.

'The Little Couple' Returns to TLC With a Q&A

2009-10-27T02:51:25Z

Tonight's cuppa: peppermint tea

I'll be busy at the Twitter-ific 140 Character Conference the next couple of days here in Los Angeles (along with my second visit to the set of NBC's "Community"), so to tide you over, here's a Q&A with two of the most popular people to ever appear on this blog, businessman Bill Klein and pediatrician Dr. Jen Arnold.

The recently marrieds are the stars of TLC's hit reality series "The Little Couple," which returns for a second season on Tuesday, Oct. 27, at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

Unless otherwise indicated, all answers are considered to be from both Klein and Arnold (and as you can tell from the pictures, they did squeeze in some angling time):

Q: Are you surprised at the success of the show?

A: It's a success? Actually, it's been a surprise and a pleasant one at that. Most of the feedback we have received has been positive and who could complain about that?!

Q: Two times I've posted stories on "The Little Couple" on my blog -- click here and here -- and the second post (which came out after the series had premiered) generated many comments from readers, all very positive. What about the show and yourselves do you think appeals to viewers?

A: If we had to guess, it's that people see a lot of themselves in us. We are two down-to-earth folks, who happen to be madly in love, that are trying to make the best of our situation...and hopefully that is what resonates with the viewers.

Q: What challenges are you facing during this season?

A: Time! Time is a commodity that is in high demand in our home. Work for both of us as picked up in pace and the demands we must meet to make things work with the show and our careers is tough enough.

Insert the want and need to continue to have some private time between just the two of us and all of a sudden, we are looking for Funday, that elusive eighth day of the week! Also, we have a lot of big things coming up. Baby stuff, house stuff, work stuff...it will be hard to get it all into one season...but it keeps us busy!

Q: How has your life changed since the show has been on the air?

A: It takes a lot longer to go to the grocery store; we have actually been seated a little quicker at a restaurant or two! And we have met so many great fans all over the country!

Q: Do you feel like you're educating viewers about the medical causes for your stature? What feedback are you getting?

A: We do think we are educating our viewers about the medical issues surrounding skeletal dysplasias. Jen: "I have had many emails from families who have kids with dwarfism asking for advice. Of course I can't give them exact medical advice since I am not their physician, but I have been able to guide them to specialists and even speak with their physicians as needed. It's a very rewarding opportunity. If and when we have a child with skeletal dysplasia I think the education will really increase as many of the medical and orthopedic challenges of dwarfism occur in childhood."

Q: What's been the most fun about shooting the show?

Q; Getting to know the crew, they have all been great to work with! Bill: "and l get to test out my jokes with a captive (truly captive...the crew is obligated to listen) audience!

Q: Any regrets?

A: The only regret is time management. With our busy schedules, we wish we had planned some things a little better so that we were ahead of the game instead of always feeling like we are trying to catch up. Also, we wish we kept up better with our fan mail, email, Twitter, and Facebook accounts. We love to reach out, but find it often hard to keep up.

Q: Any favorite celebrities you've now had a chance to meet?

A: Oprah.

Hot Cuppa Radio! And, Foreclosure for 'Dollhouse'?

2009-10-23T18:14:35Z

Today's cuppa: hot peppermint tea

Yesterday, I did my regular weekly appearance on Shaun Daily's TV Talk show on blogtalkradio.com -- click here for the MP3 version.

I come in just after the half hour mark (scratchy throat, stuffy head and all -- just a cold, no swine flu or anything like that, thank goodness).

We talk about the poll results on my blog (the poll remains open, BTW), and all the various set visits and award shows I've gone to lately .. which are quite a few, and which may account for me catching a cold.

At the same time, I'm pretty cranky at Fox for pulling "Dollhouse" for sweeps -- click here for the Zap2it story -- mostly for selfish reasons. I did interviews and a set visit for a story originally planned to run next week, focusing on the beginning of Summer Glau's (standing, right) recurring role.

Now that won't happen until December. Not sure if the story will re-run then or not in syndication; we'll have to see what happens.

But, I did sit down last night and watch two "Dollhouse" episodes that Fox sent out -- both the one airing tonight, and the one that was supposed to air next Friday, with Glau.

It arrived with a note from creator Joss Whedon attached, which says, in part, "We're back! With two brand new, never-before-sent-to-reviewers episode of 'Dollhouse,' a show that's sweeping an unbelievably tiny portion of the nation."

He's not kidding about the "tiny" part, which explains why the show was benched for the all-important sweeps period, starting Friday, Oct. 30, when Fox re-runs the two-hour "House" premiere, followed by "House" and "Bones" re-runs for all of November. Re-runs. Ouch.

I have to be honest in saying that I've always thought "Dollhouse" has fallen well short in the execution of its premise, which has inherent difficulties of its own. It's tough to have viewers lock into characters that shift personas week by week. In some ways, it's doomed "Dollhouse" to the trouble that plagues all anthology series, which have proven a tough sell to regular audiences over the last couple of decades.

This season, in answer to that, Whedon has been fleshing out the lead character of Echo (Eliza Dushku, lying down, above), with some success.

But Echo's a minor player in tonight's episode, "Belonging," which really belongs to Dichen Lachman, who plays Sierra, another of the memory-wiped, reprogrammable "Actives" that live in the mysterious L.A. Dollhouse.

An Australian with a mother of Tibetan descent, Lachman has a very distinctive look, which doesn't hamper her in the least when it comes to morphing into wildly different personas.

I've always thought she was the most adept chameleon in the cast -- with Enver Gjokaj, who plays Active Victor, as a close second -- and "Belonging" is a showcase for Lachman's considerable transformative skills. Whatever happens to "Dollhouse," I can't imagine Lachman being short of work in the years to come.

"Belonging" -- co-written by Whedon, and directed by Jonathan Frakes -- is also a nice turn for Fran Kranz. He plays amoral tech wizard Topher Brink, who learns that growing a conscience can be very painful indeed.

Whedon does have an eye for talent, and I'm happy he's brought some of these lesser-known folks to the attention of the showbiz world.

Speaking of Whedon discoveries, the episode currently skedded for Dec. 4, called "The Public Eye," brings in Glau, who got her first acting role a 2002 episode of Whedon's "Angel" and has gone on to be a favorite of his.

In "Dollhouse," she plays a twitchy, off-kilter part that's not too far from what we've seen her do in "Firefly," "The 4400" or "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles."

But since Glau is quite good at playing a sweetly innocent psycho or a dimpled butt-kicker, that's not an entirely bad thing.

It was also fun to see her as a smart-mouthed, trashy chick with a dark side on CBS' military drama "The Unit," so she does have range.

But, we'll get back to that in December, either in a syndicated feature story or in this space.

So, whether or not you've been loving "Dollhouse" all along, I recommend tuning into "Belonging." It shows what the series can be at its best, and it's just a tight, tasty hour of TV. It might be too little, too late, but you never know. It's not all about the overnights these days.

As Whedon said in his note, "Thanks, and see you on the TiVo!"

The White House vs. Fox News -- Who Wins? Who Loses?

2009-10-22T19:47:17Z

Today's cuppa: Irish breakfast tea and decongestant (yep, got a cold)

If you're a news watcher, it's impossible not to notice that the White House has declared war on Fox News Channel (FNC's logo and slogan are to the left), not just disagreeing with what the network says on its opinion programs but asking whether or not it's a legitimate news organization at all.

It's common that FNC's cable competition -- and some of the broadcast competitors -- huff and puff about whether or not the cable newser is "fair and balanced," as it claims. It seems to me that some competitors, in particular MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, have made a name for themselves at least in part by complaining about FNC.

Now the White House has piled on, trying to get FNC's competitors to stop considering it one of their own.

To me, this doesn't sound like a good idea.

First of all, if any administration chooses not to place its spokespeople on FNC, fine.That's its prerogative. Of course, that does limit its opportunity to speak to all of FNC's viewers, but if the administration decides that's not worth its time or effort, that's its call.

But the administration deciding who is or isn't a news organization seems pretty high-handed, and since a good chunk of FNC's viewers are also voters, possibly counterproductive.

FNC is the most popular of the cable newsers by far, and I doubt it's going anywhere. Ratings-wise, the White House complaints haven't left a dent. This attack strategy is unlikely to gain new support for the administration and very likely to further alienate the several million voters who watch FNC.

Again, that's all fine and dandy, but it is interesting to look at just what the White House is complaining about.

The White House claims that FNC's newsgathering efforts are unfair and slanted, but when pressed by ABC News reporter Jake Tapper, press secretary Robert Gibbs named timeslots that contain opinion shows -- "Glenn Beck" and "Hannity."

Here's the exchange from Tapper's blog from Oct. 20:

Tapper: It's escaped none of our notice that the White House has decided in the last few weeks to declare one of our sister organizations "not a news organization" and to tell the rest of us not to treat them like a news organization. Can you explain why it's appropriate for the White House to decide that a news organization is not one -

(Crosstalk)

Gibbs: Jake, we render, we render an opinion based on some of their coverage and the fairness that, the fairness of that coverage.

Tapper: But that's a pretty sweeping declaration that they are "not a news organization." How are they any different from, say -

Gibbs: ABC -

Tapper: ABC. MSNBC. Univision. I mean how are they any different?

Gibbs: You and I should watch sometime around 9 o'clock tonight. Or 5 o'clock this afternoon.

Tapper: I'm not talking about their opinion programming or issues you have with certain reports. I'm talking about saying thousands of individuals who work for a media organization, do not work for a "news organization" -- why is that appropriate for the White House to say?

Gibbs: That's our opinion.

-jpt

Last I looked, all the cable newsers have opinion shows -- from "Lou Dobbs" on CNN to "The Rachel Maddow Show" and "Countdown With Keith Olbermann" on MSNBC -- but the White House seems to only have issues with FNC's opinion shows.

One wonders what might happen in the future if any of these other opinion shows express opinions that don't agree with the White House's opinion on what an opinion show should be. It's my opinion that they might find themselves coming under fire as well.

Other cable newsers may indeed have issues with FNC's style, content or accuracy, but if they attack a more successful rival, it's going to look self-serving, but, of course, they're free to do so if they feel it's necessary. Newsweek did, but one assumes this is part of the news magazine's opinion section, not to be considered a news report.

That's my opinion anyway -- I could be wrong.

Others have other opinions, from the Huffington Post to the New York Times' David Carr to Fox News' own Tucker Carlson, to the Los Angeles Times and US News and World Report.

The POTUS has also weighed in on the subject.

Opinions and perspectives are subjective. If any news organization -- TV, print or online -- makes factual errors, the subject of the reporting or even other news organizations should absolutely call it on the mistake, and if a mistake was made, corrections and/or retractions should be issued. But one subjective opinion is as good as another.

I don't see a big fundamental difference between Maddow and Hannity, or Olbermann and O'Reilly, or Dobbs and Beck -- except that the White House has decided it doesn't like the FNC commentators' opinions.

Well, as Gibbs said, that's its opinion. You, or I, may agree or disagree, but in the rough-and-tumble world of American free speech and free press, that's the way it should be.

As far as I know, print, broadcast or online news entities don't need the White House's blessing to come into being, and they shouldn't need its blessing -- or that of their competitors -- to continue doing what they do. That's up to the readers and viewers.

Let's hope it stays that way.

UPDATE: When the White House pushed harder today, the collective news media pushed back. Good for them, and good for my fellow TV critic, the Baltimore Sun's David Zurawik, who's interviewed in the clip and has been writing about this situation.

Hot Cuppa (My!) Pix: Happy Birthday, Chloe, on 'Flipping Out'

2009-10-21T03:15:26Z

Tonight's cuppa: decaf Irish breakfast tea

Those of you who watched tonight's third-season finale of Bravo's design-and-remodeling reality TV show "Flipping Out" got a taste of the birthday party thrown by Ryan Brown for his three-year-old daughter, Chloe. I was on hand for the event at his Hollywood Hills home -- had a great time talking to Brown's awesome grandmother and charming neighbor -- and here are a few pix to remember it by ...

Sprinkles cupcakes ...

The garden ...
The view ...

The gazebo ...

Filming in the princess bouncy house ...

And Jeff Lewis' indispensable assistant Jenni Pulos as the entertainment, in a gecko suit ...