It may not have seemed that Sarah Silverman was busy in 2009, especially since the last time we saw 'The Sarah Silverman Program' on Comedy Central was December of 2008. But she was busy behind the scenes.
Silverman filmed 'Saint John of Las Vegas' with Steve Buscemi, which played the festival circuit last year and gets a wider release this year, 'Peep World' with Michael C. Hall and Rainn Wilson, and wrote her memoir, 'The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee,' which is due in April.
Silverman was also negotiating with Comedy Central for 'The Sarah Silverman Program.' Comedy Central wanted to cut her budget from $1.1 million per episode to $850,000, which was a non-starter for Silverman and her partners.
As Guerrero on 'Human Target,' Jackie Earle Haley doesn't get to fly planes, parachute out of trains, or charm his way into an embassy party. That job goes to Christopher Chance, the title character played to perfection by Mark Valley.
But Haley does get to play the more interesting character -- the mysterious guy behind the scenes, the one who can find any information you need about anyone or anything, the guy who, when threatened by thugs, will accept their initial beat-down and tell them in great detail who he will kill in their sleep first, offering condolences the wife and kids.
Through the first three episodes, there are few concrete details about Guerrero's past, and aspect of the character that Haley enjoys. "That's what's fun about this guy, it seems like we're kind of all learning it together." he said during a conference call with the media.
We're only hours away from the premiere of the final season of 'Lost'. I'm excited, you're excited, and Richard Alpert himself, Nestor Carbonell, is right there with us.
I spoke to Carbonell recently about his role in the show's much-anticipated endgame. Needless to say, there are some big things in store for our favorite ageless Other, and Carbonell is looking forward to showing fans a whole new side of Richard (or should we call him Ricardus?).
He obviously couldn't spill all of the show's big secrets, but he was surprisingly candid about what fans could expect from his character this year.
Will we learn why Richard doesn't appear to age? Will his bond to Jacob be explored? Head after the jump to find out ... Minor spoilers follow.
Back in 2008, I was lucky enough to get to visit the set of Burn Notice and interview Sharon Gless. At that time, Sharon said that she was trying to get her co-star from Cagney & Lacey -- and good friend -- Tyne Daly to guest on Burn Notice, but Tyne was only interested if she could play her part sans words. "Tyne said, 'I'll do it, but I want to play her as a mute.' Only Tyne Daly! And believe me, she'll steal the show. Matt said he wants to use her -- but not as a mute!"
Tomorrow night, Tyne Daly and Sharon Gless will be reunited on TV in an episode of Burn Notice called "The Dark Road." Tyne Daly will not be playing a mute. In fact, according to Sharon, "It's very, very unusual the situations that they put me in with Tyne. They had me go undercover." It sounds like a fun way to kick off the second half of season three. And hopefully, Tyne Daly will get to watch it. You see, in a recent conference call with the two stars, Ms. Daly and Ms. Gless talked about working together again and more.
During ABC's portion of the press tour (which feels like a month ago already), the network had its Wednesday night comedy showrunners on for a panel. Surpisingly, Bill Lawrence actually let Steven Levitan of Modern Family and Eileen Heisler and DeAnn Heline of The Middle speak for a good portion of the time, though he had a few things to say himself, not the least of which was that Conan's letter saying no to 12:05 on NBC was a "ballsy" move.
You knew I wouldn't pass up the opportunity to speak to Bill while he was there, especially with Cougar Town getting picked up for a second season and the new Scrubs trying to find its way after a shaky start. The conversation we had is after the jump.
(Oh, and it's always amazing to me that I can talk to Lawrence for maybe 15 minutes, cut out 3500 words, and still have 2500 words left. The man can talk a blue streak.)
When Ricky Gervais hosts the Golden Globes this Sunday (NBC, 8PM EST), don't expect any pre-taped pieces or large choreographed numbers. Gervais, speaking to the press on a conference call, said he is avoiding all of that. He has planned what he wants to do, but he won't rehearse it, alone or with anyone on the show.
"I want to host it a little bit more like someone from the Rat Pack would host it," he says. "You know, just off the cuff and just playing the room and having fun with the people and roasting a few of the A-listers and hopefully it'll be fun for the room and the people at home."
"I do want people to have the feeling that anything can happen," he adds. "I want to be reactive so I don't want to just go out there and read an alter cue and do a very staid joke and have that sort of polite sort of titter."
I've been holding this interview for almost six months, but I think it was worth it. When I was in Pasadena last summer for the TCA press tour (whose winter edition I'll be leaving for on Friday morning... eep!), I spoke to Morgan Spurlock about the 20th anniversary film he was making about The Simpsons. FOX has finally decided to air that film, entitled The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special -- In 3-D! On Ice!, on January 10, along with the venerable cartoon's 450th episode.
Spurlock was just in the initial stages of filming the documentary when I talked to him, but his views on the show, how it and the perception of it has changed over the years, and some of the interesting things he learned about the show made for a fun interview. Since I didn't know how long the movie was going to be, I start the talk by expressing some surprise about its length.
When NBC was promoting Brian Williams' fifth anniversary as anchor of the NBC Nightly News, I figured it was a good opportunity to ask him a few questions. After all, with two wars, a lousy economy, the health care debate, and Tiger Woods, there's lots of news going on right now.
And, in such a relatively short period of time, the news landscape has changed on both the broadcast and the cable fronts, including the fact that on Monday, when Diane Sawyer takes over ABC's World News, he'll be the only male evening news anchor left.
Williams (or as he's been called lately, BriWi) was nice enough to answer some questions via e-mail about his new competition and how he lets his famous sense of humor come through during a serious newscast. Finally, he gives me some insight into what he's listening to right now (if you've seen previous interviews with him, he leans more towards the college radio side).
The Dark Side came to Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane's house Saturday night in the form of both the worst weather Los Angeles has seen in years and the DVD release party for the Empire Strikes Back parody, Something Something Something Dark Side.
The follow-up to the successful Star Wars: Episode IV -- "A New Hope" spoof, Blue Harvest, Dark Side follows the exploits of Luke Skywalker (Chris Griffin, voiced by Seth Green), Han Solo (the MacFarlane-voiced Peter Griffin -- who insists on a new Rebel Alliance code name: Carlos Spicy Wiener) and their heroic friends as they flee the pursuing Imperial Fleet and Darth Vader (Stewie, also MacFarlane).
To celebrate the DVD's December 22 release, MacFarlane hosted a star (wars) studded Christmas party at his estate in the upper reaches of Beverly Hills. Reporters were rounded up, blind-folded and transported via unmarked black helicopters to MacFarlane's home to talk to the DVD's cast and to rub elbow's with Mos Eisley Cantina's worth of celebrities.
If I were in Tony Shalhoub's shoes right now and I was facing the end of a long-running show that helped make me a star, I would spend just about everyday sitting in a corner in the fetal position, rocking back and forth and mumbling to myself.
But that's not Tony. The Monk star had a nice, candid chat with the folks from Sling about Monk's past impact on television and the future of his career, which includes a few films and some interesting choices for producing. As for another Monk reunion, well, Tony says "never say never."
And now Jennifer Carpenter, who plays Debra Morgan on the show, is urging fans and new viewers alike to "have a good time talking to your therapists about it (the season finale) because it's beyond whatever you may think," according to a recent interview with E! Online.
Of course, this could all be just hype designed to draw in as many eyeballs as possible for a show that's already loaded to the gills with them, but I wouldn't put anything pass a show like Dexter. Despite the unevenness of all the plots this season, the Trinity Killer angle has more than made up for it. Could it be that we don't get to see Dex turn Arthur Mitchell into a human jigsaw puzzle on his kill table?
Some think that only certain stories define a reporter's career and nothing could be further from the truth. Just ask TV reporter Paul Linnman who since the dawn of the Internet has been dubbed as the "exploding whale guy."
Still, Linnman was nice enough to sit down with me and discuss that infamous day in TV history when the blubber hit the fan (as well as the cameras, a flattened car and about 75 onlookers) for an interview at Asylum.com.
If you never managed to catch Andy Barker, P.I. when it originally aired two years ago, try not to beat yourself up. Though the show had an impressive cast, led by Andy Richter as a CPA-turned-private-investigator, and including Harve Presnell, Tony Hale, Marshall Manesh, and Clea Lewis. It was also created by Conan O'Brien and Jonathan Groff. But it only lasted six episodes, and didn't seem to get much push from NBC. Watching it on the newly released DVD, Andy Barker, P.I.: The Complete Series, it's hard not to feel the show could have had legs if given the chance.
All's well that ends well, though, and Richter is happier than ever, paired again with Conan O'Brien on The Tonight Show, getting to do what he calls a "silly little comedy show" without dealing with the backwards world of the sitcom. I spoke with Richter earlier this week about Barker and being back with Conan.
Do you think Andy Barker, P.I. got a fair shake when it was first out?
Oh, certainly not. Absolutely not. It was sort of just, you know, shoved on TV and meant to go away.
Chris Rock has the kind of status as a comedian that allows him to work on any project he wants. He produced the documentary Good Hair, he's writing a book, and he has been working on back-to-back film shoots.
Tuesday at 8 PM on NBC, you'll hear his voice in Merry Madagascar, playing Marty the zebra for the third time, along with returning regulars Ben Stiller, David Schwimmer, and Jada Pinkett Smith. He's confident it's not the last time he'll voice Marty, either, with Madagascar 3 in the works.
So why does a guy who can do anything he wants spend time in front of a microphone pretending to be a cartoon animal?
"Money," he says jokingly, speaking on a conference call on Wednesday. "No, no they're good. You realize as you get longer in this business, the only thing that keeps you working is doing good stuff. You know, I mean the box office is great, too, but if people don't like what you do the moment the box office isn't fair, they don't want to work with you anymore."
We've got a new e-mail address for the podcast! If you have any questions or suggestions about the 'cast, please e-mail us at tvsquadpodcast [at] google [dot] com.
This week, actress Linda Purl joins me, Jason Hughes and Kona Gallagher to talk about her guest starring stint as Pam's mom on The Office -- she's on tonight's episode, by the way. She also chats about her long acting career (remember her during the waning days of Happy Days?), her work with the California International Theatre Festival and her current success as a touring lounge singer.
After the interview, which is about 30 minutes, Kona, Jason and and I talk about the following:
It may not have seemed that Sarah Silverman was busy in 2009, especially since the last time we saw 'The Sarah Silverman Program' on Comedy Central was December of 2008. But she was busy behind the scenes.
As Guerrero on 
We're only hours away from the premiere of the final season of 
During ABC's portion of the press tour (which feels like a month ago already), the network had its Wednesday night comedy showrunners on for a panel. Surpisingly, Bill Lawrence actually let Steven Levitan of Modern Family and Eileen Heisler and DeAnn Heline of The Middle speak for a good portion of the time, though he had a few things to say himself, not the least of which was that Conan's letter saying no to 12:05 on NBC was a "ballsy" move.
When Ricky Gervais hosts the Golden Globes this Sunday (NBC, 8PM EST), don't expect any pre-taped pieces or large choreographed numbers. Gervais, speaking to the press on a conference call, said he is avoiding all of that. He has planned what he wants to do, but he won't rehearse it, alone or with anyone on the show. 
When NBC was promoting Brian Williams' fifth anniversary as anchor of the NBC Nightly News, I figured it was a good opportunity to ask him a few questions. After all, with two wars, a lousy economy, the health care debate, and Tiger Woods, there's lots of news going on right now. 
The Dark Side came to Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane's house Saturday night in the form of both the worst weather Los Angeles has seen in years and the DVD release party for the Empire Strikes Back parody, Something Something Something Dark Side.
If you've been following the fourth season of 
Some think that only certain stories define a reporter's career and nothing could be further from the truth. Just ask TV reporter Paul Linnman who since the dawn of the Internet has been dubbed as the "exploding whale guy." 
If you never managed to catch Andy Barker, P.I. when it originally aired two years ago, try not to beat yourself up. Though the show had an impressive cast, led by Andy Richter as a CPA-turned-private-investigator, and including Harve Presnell, Tony Hale, Marshall Manesh, and Clea Lewis. It was also created by Conan O'Brien and Jonathan Groff. But it only lasted six episodes, and didn't seem to get much push from NBC. Watching it on the newly released DVD, Andy Barker, P.I.: The Complete Series, it's hard not to feel the show could have had legs if given the chance. 
Chris Rock has the kind of status as a comedian that allows him to work on any project he wants. He produced the documentary Good Hair, he's writing a book, and he has been working on back-to-back film shoots. 
We've got a new e-mail address for the podcast! If you have any questions or suggestions about the 'cast, please e-mail us at tvsquadpodcast [at] google [dot] com.
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. on 'Faces of America' and the Beer Summit
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The Super Bowl Commercials: The Best
