Please note that it features a naked DeVito, though helpfully the most disturbing parts are covered by festive decoration.
[via Jezebel]
TCA-related stories
And now, video of a naked Danny DeVito
When Joel interviewed Danny DeVito last month at the TCA press tour, DeVito didn't specifically mention this outtake from an upcoming episode from the new season of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, though he did mention a Christmas DVD. It's...bizarre.
Please note that it features a naked DeVito, though helpfully the most disturbing parts are covered by festive decoration.
Please note that it features a naked DeVito, though helpfully the most disturbing parts are covered by festive decoration.
I'm so excited about this news from The Office!
Readers of TV Squad know that our fearless editor-in-chief Joel has been at the Television Critics Association press tour, scooping up all the cool news and interviews, and posting them here for all of us to read.It's a lot of work attending these events; you have to be "on" all the time and not only attend panels, do set visits, conduct interviews, and hob-nob with celebrities, but also write everything up and post it to the site in a timely fashion. I have to give a big shout-out to Joel, because I love seeing all the TCA news coming through.
I'm especially geeked about the news he posted after his set visit to The Office. In case anyone wants to stay spoiler-free (which would be tough regarding this particular news, since it's all over the place and was pretty much a given anyway), I'll post my commentary after the jump.
Continue reading I'm so excited about this news from The Office!
An Office wedding... and Michael Scott talks to the "mafia" - TCA Report
One of the highlights of Friday's press tour day was a visit to the set of The Office. During that visit, various cast members took groups of critics through the entire office set (Angela Kinsey was my group's guide, as you can see in the photo). After the tour, the entire cast, except for the ailing Rainn Wilson, joined creator Greg Daniels in the warehouse to answer our questions.Executive producer Paul Lieberstein (who also plays Toby) took the bulk of the questions about what's going to go on this season. One tidbit that he readily dropped (probably because it had been published already) was that there's going to be a special event in the fourth episode. Details after the jump.
Continue reading An Office wedding... and Michael Scott talks to the "mafia" - TCA Report
FX showrunners take turns tearing NBC a new one - TCA Report
FX held panels for Archer and Sons of Anarchy on Friday morning, but by then press tour fatigue had set in, and the energy in the room was low for both. It was especially low for Archer, a Adult Swim-esque spy cartoon by the creator of Sealab 2021 that most of the critics hadn't yet seen. The panel seemed to be more content with answering with wise-ass remarks that made themselves laugh but the just served to make us tired masses annoyed.
Things perked up, though, when the network presented five of its show-runners to talk about what it's like to develop edgy dramas for basic cable. But since the theme of the week has invariably been "Leno at 10," the questions often came back to the fact that NBC with one fell swoop wiped out five hours of scripted drama per week. And the show-runners took every opportunity to bash the Peacock for it.
And it got ugly: "I feel they should take the American flag down in front of the building and just put up a white one," said Rescue Me's Peter Tolan, "because they've clearly given up."
Continue reading FX showrunners take turns tearing NBC a new one - TCA Report
Subtle Subtitles: Joan Rivers
If you haven't seen our game before, we give you a picture from a recent episode of a TV series and you provide the caption! Last week's winner is Scott with this:
"All of them, Anderson.
Continue reading Subtle Subtitles: Joan Rivers
Katey Sagal talks about contentious Futurama negotiations - TCA Report
At last night's FOX party at the Langham Huntington's "Horseshoe Garden," I ran into (TV Squad reader) Katey Sagal, who was there in support of her excellent FX show Sons of Anarchy. Before we could get into any questions about that show, though, I wanted to know about the contentious negotiations between 20th Century Fox and the voice cast of Futurama that finally were wrapped up last week.Her reaction? Slightly perturbed, but not surprised, given her industry experience. "Well, it's what always happens. We're starting our sixth season, and the actors felt that it was deserving of a sixth-season salary. And we weren't being offered that. We were united in our search for... we wanted what's fair, that's all."
When 20th put out a casting notice looking for replacement voices, Sagal said, "I wasn't surprised. It's business."
Continue reading Katey Sagal talks about contentious Futurama negotiations - TCA Report
Maybe NBC should change the name to Day One Season
Lots of news coming out of the Television Critics Association press tour, and a lot of it makes you think that NBC is either a.) filled with mad geniuses who are so ahead of the rest of us that we'll all look back in a few years and realize how prescient they were, or b.) they have no idea how to run a network.The latest move that TV fans will be talking about is this: prime time entertainment chief Angela Bromstad says that Day One, the new drama from ex-Heroes producer Jesse Alexander, might only last one season and then be done.
Continue reading Maybe NBC should change the name to Day One Season
Mischa Barton has not missed work on The Beautiful Life - TCA Report
When Ashton Kutcher, Ashlee Simpson-Wentz, Elle Macpherson and the rest of the panel for Kutcher's CW show The Beautiful Life, I was figuring the panel would field nothing but questions about Mischa Barton, given the recent publicity over her hospitalization and other personal issues. Surprisingly, though, the critics actually wanted to focus on the show itself, which is about the lives of young models and how they deal with the various pressures of that lifestyle.However, in the middle of the panel, a Barton question did come up. Kutcher was quick to defend the actress, saying she was "never unavailable for a day of work." With all the young people in the cast, he thinks the "good thing about Mischa is that she's done it before," and can provide guidance.
Continue reading Mischa Barton has not missed work on The Beautiful Life - TCA Report
Margulies doesn't think Patti Blagojevich is a Good Wife - TCA Report
In her TCA session to promote her new CBS show The Good Wife, about the wife of a state attorney who tries to build her life and career after her husband has a Spitzer/Sanford/Edwards kind of downfall, Julianna Margulies was asked if she thought Rod Blagojevich should count in the pantheon of "Good Wives."She said that Mrs. Blago's situation was different because her husband cheated on the people of his state, not on his wife. "Then she goes on a reality show. I mean... god..."
OK, so Mrs. Blago doesn't belong in the same company as Silda Spitzer and Elizabeth Edwards. Would any of them be willing to give her advice on how to play the role of a wronged political wife? "I think all those women are too classy to grumble about anything."
Continue reading Margulies doesn't think Patti Blagojevich is a Good Wife - TCA Report
CBS exec session: CSI changes, Let's Make A Deal... and a few shots at NBC - TCA Report
CBS programming chief Nina Tassler held court this morning in the CBS executive session. Her network is in an extremely strong position, so there wasn't much in the way of controversy to report, but here are some interesting tidbits from the session:- Laurence Fishburne's character of Dr. Langston on CSI will assume a more take-charge position this year, he'll also be given a "wardrobe makeover" so he seems, as Tassler put it "more comfortable in his own clothes."
- Jorja Fox will be back for the first five episodes. And one of the main characters will get promoted. I won't spoil it for you, but you can probably figure out who it might be.
- A new Let's Make A Deal with Wayne Brady as host, will be taking the place of Guiding Light. Tassler wouldn't go so far as saying this is a trend towards the return of daytime network game shows, but she did say she wanted to get a new LMAD on the air for a while.
- No plans to bring back Flashpoint right now, though they can. More Canadian cross-production deals on the way, including The Bridge.
- On NBC's late-night / Leno strategies: "Whatever numbers they get, they'll declare victory anyway, so it doesn't matter."
- On the departure of Ben Silverman of NBC: "I'm really just a D-girl, so I wouldn't comment."
HBO: Sex! Hollywood! Vampires!
I must confess that I really don't pay that much attention to TV ratings. I realize that I'm just one girl, and whether I love a show or not doesn't make a wit of difference as to whether other people will love it -- and love it enough to keep it on the air. As a TV writer, I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that TV shows come and go, and sometimes nobody watches the good ones, which results in them leaving the air far too soon. But I've found myself gravitating towards HBO shows, because they seem to be consistently good, no matter the ratings. Sometimes I'm crazy about the shows right off the bat. Such was the case with True Blood, which I review here on TV Squad.
Continue reading HBO: Sex! Hollywood! Vampires!
If you like schoolyard puns, then you'd like the Hung panel - TCA Report
Going in, everyone in the crowd had to know that the panel for HBO's Hung was going to consist of puns and schoolyard humor. After all, it's a show about a down-and-out guy who uses his best asset -- his manhood -- and becomes a male prostitute. So it shouldn't have been a big surprise when a reporter started the questioning by asking whether the show continues a trend of shows about "ordinary working stiffs with a secret."It went pretty much downhill from there, aided and abetted by the show's stars, Thomas Jane and Jane Adams.
Jane, on his audition process: "I had to go into the other room to disrobe, so I wouldn't hit anyone in the eye. It's for safety."
Adams told a critic that it was interesting he was making so many penis puns "While you're holding that mike."
Co-creator Colette Burson got into the act, calling the member of Jane's character of Ray Drecker as "The Platonic Penis. It's the ideal penis on a certain level."
Continue reading If you like schoolyard puns, then you'd like the Hung panel - TCA Report
The Seinfeld reunion on Curb will be about a Seinfeld reunion - TCA Report
If the meta-ness of my headline confuses you, I apologize. It's the best way I could phrase it, because it's kind of mind-blowing in concept.At today's HBO session at the TCAs, Larry David came on stage to talk about the upcoming season of Curb Your Enthusiasm. In it, as we all know, he'll be reuniting the Seinfeld cast on the show. And what will they be doing? They'll be working on... a Seinfeld reunion episode.
"The context is that for years I've been asked about a Seinfeld reunion," said David, "and i'd say no it's a lame idea. And then i thought it might be very funny to do that on Curb, and I kept thinking about it and different scenarios of how to pull it off."
When he talked to Jerry Seinfeld and the cast about it, they were all game. "So doiung a Seinfeld reunion show on Curb we'll see writing read through rehersals show being filmed. You won't see the entire show, you'll see parts of the show get an idea of what happened eleven years later."
Continue reading The Seinfeld reunion on Curb will be about a Seinfeld reunion - TCA Report
HBO exec session: Hung, True Blood, Entourage renewed; Gervais animated show ordered - TCA Report
Michael Lombardo and Richard Plepler of HBO held an executive session at the beginning of HBO's star-studded presentation. Among the news:- The entire Sunday summer lineup: Entourage, True Blood, and Hung will be coming back next summer.
- They've ordered an animated series from Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant based on their podcasts with the ever-entertaining Karl Pilkington.
- On a third season of Flight of the Conchords: "We're ready when they're ready."
- The pilot of Boardwalk Empire, directed by Martin Scorsese, has been delivered to HBO. It will be picked up based on what they see. They like what they see so far.
- No more Little Britain USA, but they are working with the producers to create specials with all-new characters.
More coming. Stay tuned to our Twitter feed for the latest updates.
Joan Rivers takes her shots at David Tutera - TCA Report
I had the great honor of interviewing the legendary Joan Rivers after her TCA panel promoting her new TV Land show How'd You Get So Rich? While the panel was hilarious, Joan was in fine form during the interview, telling me a good story about why she doesn't dwell in the past, criticizing Sarah Palin and Brooke Shields, and giving her one-millionth rebuke of her Apprentice rival, Annie Duke, or "Annie Douche" as she called the poker star during the panel.But Rivers also took some vicious shots at David Tutera, the party planner who left her and Duke high and dry on The Celebrity Apprentice's finale, quitting after Joan asked him to make some changes to his plan. Since Tutera is scheduled to do a panel on his show My Fair Wedding on Friday, I wanted to post what she said about him here and then give Tutera a chance to respond.
Continue reading Joan Rivers takes her shots at David Tutera - TCA Report
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