The first day of the combined CBS / CW / Showtime part of the tour kicked off with the executive session from CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler. Before she got on stage, the network showed a montage of their shows. It was then I realized, "Boy, I really don't watch anything on this network, do I?" I mean, outside of the Monday comedies and The Price is Right, there isn't one show on the Eye net that I tune in on a regular basis.Anyway, she addressed the departure of William Peterson from CSI, just about right off the bat, giving the gathered writers a clue as to the nature of the character who will be coming in to fill his void. Oh, and Tassler is studying to become a cantor. For some reason, a reporter asked her about that.
OK, first the Peterson business. He'll be leaving after the tenth episode of the upcoming season, though Tassler says "this won't be the last we see of him." Why did he leave? Because he's an artist! "Billy is an extraordinary guy. Let's not forget his roots and origin in theater; he's still an artist and very passionate and committed to the show [as an executive producer]. (His departure) is just an artist's choice to change his life." He'll be working on a play soon, she said.
The character that will replace him -- he's still being cast, though in the scrum, she said that they approached John Malkovich's people about the role, but he turned them down, and that Laurence Fishburne would be "great for the role," and was a name that they considered -- is an outsider to the Vegas CSI unit, and won't be the leader of the team at the outset. Through testing, he has found out that he has the same genetic profile that has been found in serial killers, and he's making "a journey to discover his true character." There will be a two-episode overlap between the new character's arrival and Peterson's departure, according to Tassler.
Other tidbits:
- When asked about why, after last year's more daring pilots, this year's are more in the traditional CBS vein, Tassler said that "there is certainly a couple of shows are more within our wheelhouse. But there is a marked departure and tone in terms of sensibilty. Yes, we're doing procedurals, but sensibility is different." What does that mean, the cops will be making more jokes as they take blood samples? Anyway, she did mention that they're trying to start a new comedy night on Wednesday, and cites Worst Week and the returning Big Bang Theory as two shows that are pointing the way to a new era of comedy on the network.
- She was asked how CBS was the only networks to get so many pilots (or extended trailers for shows) to the critics, something the other networks couldn't accomplish. "We didn't start pilot season early," she said. "We have best and smartest development executives in town. The 11th Hour and The Mentalist were bought early in the (development) season last year. Literally once the strike was resolved we were ready to go."
- Britney Spears didn't save How I Met Your Mother, Tassler said. They're "very proud" of the show, she explained. "I think the show is beloved by most in this room and the audience. It was never in danger, we just took a while to make the announcement." She explained in the scrum that the delayed announcement was more a matter of timing and looking at the schedule than any indication that the show was on the bubble.
- Speaking of Brit Brit, Tassler is encouraging the practice of stunt casting. "Actors (and their reps) come to us directly and say 'I love that show and am a fan,'" which leads the network to approach the show's writers to see if they can work them in somehow. For the network, it's a win-win, so "you'll probably see more of that, yes."
- Tassler said that Sarah Chalke will be in more episodes of How I Met Your Mother. When asked if Sarah's the mother, she said "Right now I don't think she's the mother." Is that one executive's opinion, or fact? Not sure.
- She doesn't regret cancelling Moonlight, despite the outcry from the show's fans. Tassler claimed that, unlike the campaign that successfully brought back Jericho, the one for Moonlight was "more actor-driven than show-driven." I guess she felt people missed Alex O'Loughlin more than the show itself. When I asked her if the failure of Jericho after the "Nuts" campaign brought it back signaled the last time the network would listen to a fan protest like that, she said she didn't think it would.
- Despite the rumors that are floating around the internet, The Price is Right will not be retooled to look like American Idol. "We're very respectful of the The Price is Right brand and the look of that show," she said. Before Bob (Barker) stepped down, we talked about a multi-year strategy to put a fresh coat of paint on the show and on games that haven't been updated in 30 years. But we're very respectful just make minor adjustments to show." As for why longtime producer Roger Dobkowitz was let go, she told me in the scrum that getting one of "Drew (Carey's) guys" in was part of the long-term plan for the show. Hmm... seemed like Drew got along with Dobkowitz this season. Maybe more was going on behind the scenes than we realized.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
7-18-2008 @ 4:04PM
Lorie said...
Nina is such a liar! Of course our campaign to save Moonlight is show-driven. WTH did she think we meant when we said "Please don't cancel Moonlight" or "Please bring back Moonlight"?!
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7-18-2008 @ 5:09PM
mj said...
Oh, please. The only reason Jericho was given a second chance, ooooh, 7 episodes!!! was because of all the publicity. They did NOTHING to promote the show. But, even those 7 episodes were fantastic. CBS, you made a mistake. You just can't admit it. What makes a show popular? The fans. Who do you care about? Sponsers, and what YOU think should be on. Dumb.
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7-18-2008 @ 5:48PM
Christy said...
Why did people from all over the world come together in Los Angeles to celebrate MOONLIGHT?! Because of Alex? NO! The entire show was amazing and we all love it. Sophia Myles, Jason Dohring, Shannyn Sossamon, Brian White, David Blue, Eric Winter, on and on...everyone on the show was amazing. This includes the phenomenal crew who did the lighting, sets, costumes and music. The writers were spectacular too.
If Nina thought we only cared about Alex, she is SORELY mistaken. She's using it as an excuse because she made a HUGE error in canceling the show.
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7-18-2008 @ 6:13PM
MERVE-THE-PERVE said...
And she's also full of crap about HIMYM. If they were gonna renew it all along, they would have announced it when they announced the renewals of the 20 other shows that were returning. Not making everybody wonder for an extra 2 months. Somebody needs to start a "Fire Nina Tassler" campaign. That dumb broad has got to go! The sooner the better.
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7-18-2008 @ 6:50PM
Nancy said...
There are only 4 shows on CBS that I like and now CBS has messed that up for me. I am so sick of starting to watch a show but then it gets cancelled. So moonlight wasn't all cutiest, but it was an awesome show. As far as I am concerned from the few Jericho shows that I did watch it needed to be cancelled.
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7-21-2008 @ 2:25PM
Mike said...
Actually Moonlight wasn't all that great. It had a great premise, but that was pretty much wrecked by some fairly poor writing.
Jericho - after the first episode, I lost interest. Boring political drama with a faint whiff of nuclear holocaust.
I personally think that the fans that get so worked up over bad TV shows that they curse in online forums really need to think about what is truly important.
Like why does Fox cancel all the REALLY good shows?
:)
7-18-2008 @ 8:44PM
sjacob said...
All I can say is "Oh, brother!" Isn't this the dame that brought us Swingtown which is currently on the bus to Cancelville? I can't imagine that she truly thinks the fans will buy the idea that we liked Alex and not Moonlight! We loved both of them. Alex is Mick St. John!
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7-18-2008 @ 7:03PM
pconaty said...
As a former CBS watcher and fan of both Moonlight and
Jericho, this just makes me fume! So, Nina Dingdong
doesn't regret cancelling Moonlight! Well, she will. I and many others are boycotting CBS til h--- freezes over!
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7-18-2008 @ 7:53PM
assuit said...
I don't watch CBS anymore as I was disappointed with there/her decision about Moonlight. I miss my romantic paranormal Friday night watching that wonderful, funny show.
Sorry CBS you blew it and Im in the prime demographic you covert.
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7-18-2008 @ 10:11PM
cobby said...
She's a lying bitc# with her excuses for cancelling Moonlight. I wish only the worst in life for her. If she'd "come clean" with the REAL REASONS, perhaps, perhaps I might find it in my heart to forgive her!!!!.... what the hell am I talking about....I'll never forgive the witch.........
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7-19-2008 @ 11:25AM
A.J. said...
Well, I guess we'll find out the truth about The Price is Right on Sunday...season 37 tapes its first episodes that day, so we'll be able to confirm/deny the 'rumors' then.
From what I've heard, though...there's no way there aren't going to be MAJOR changes. Maybe not in the "American Idol" direction, but it sure won't be the same show that aired yesterday.
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7-18-2008 @ 10:33PM
nattyff said...
seems like she is full of crap... specially for how they treated HIMYM...
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7-19-2008 @ 1:49AM
Mr. Brown said...
She's full of crap about The Price is Right - unless putting a fresh coat of paint on everything means totally revamping the show.
I guess we'll know Sunday when the first episode of the new season tapes, and people who have driven 500+ miles to be on TPiR walk out in droves.
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7-19-2008 @ 4:09AM
R said...
Oh my gosh. After reading all the comments, it seems that we're all in agreement. Nina Tassler is a big fat liar.
Why do they all lie so much? We're the audience and we're the ones the networks should listen to. Big fat dumb-ass liars....
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7-19-2008 @ 5:22AM
Denise said...
If she really believes people wanted Alex O and not the whole show, why not offer him William Petersen's job? I could see Mick St. John on CSI working the night shift!
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7-19-2008 @ 8:15AM
adonis meyers said...
HELLO I AM A BIG FAN OF MR. PETERSON I LVE HIM IN THE SERIES, HATE TOO SEE HIM GO,LOTS OF SUCCESS/
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7-19-2008 @ 8:15AM
adonis meyers said...
HATE TOO SEE YOU GO, LOTS OF SUCCESS
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7-19-2008 @ 10:12AM
albert kapustar said...
moonlight was one of the best shows on any network.I can"t believe the dunces they have working as executives for tv networks.They finally create a show that is different from any of the two dozen cop shows now on the networks and they cancel it because it is different
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7-19-2008 @ 10:19AM
albert kapustar said...
there are only a few shows worth watching on tv and moonlighting was one of them.Where do the tv networks dig up these executives who know knothing about tv.Two dozen cop shows on tv and you get a show that is vastly different and interesting and they cancel it.I guess they truly want to make tv the idiot box.Thank goodness for dvd's of old interesting shows
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7-19-2008 @ 2:03PM
MERVE-THE-PERVE said...
Hey Joel, if you run across Nina Tassler again could you pass on our comments about her being a big fat liar and ask her what her next profession will be once she's fired? I'm guessing she may go into politics or criminal defense.
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