debra messing-related stories
Posted Jul 1st 2008 3:10PM by Kristin Sample
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Industry, Celebrities, Casting, Reality-Free
Debra Messing's Emmy-award winning miniseries
The Starter Wife is getting some new cast members. Joining the former
Will and Grace star are David Alan Bashe of
Lipstick Jungle, Danielle Nicolet of
Heartland, Brielle Barbusca of
Hope & Faith, and Hart Bochner of
Die Hard.
The USA original series follows the post-divorce hi-jinx of Molly Kagan (Messing) as she embarks on a new chapter in her life. USA is bringing back the hit miniseries for
ten episodes this fall. Messing is now executive producer as well.
Bashe will play Molly's ex-husband, Kenny Kagen. Nicolet will play Liz Marsh, Molly's new friend and wife a a pro-baseball player. Barbusca will play Jaden, Molly and Kenny's daughter. And Bochner will play Molly's new love interest and writing class teacher. Returning for guest appearances is Joe Mantegna of
Criminal Minds who plays Molly's former boyfriend Lou Manahan.
The series will premiere on USA in October. What do you think? Will
The Starter Wife work as a full-fledged series?
Posted Mar 27th 2008 12:01PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, Industry, House, Law and Order, Cable/Satellite, Interviews, Psych, Upfronts
Last night, USA Network invited some of their favorite advertisers -- and a few reporters -- to their upfront presentation, held at The Modern, a sleek restaurant and lounge located at New York's Museum of Modern Art. It was an opportunity for USA and NBC Universal executives to crow about the network's continued success as well as let advertisers know what's coming up in 2008 and how they can combine their advertising message with the unique "characters" that USA offers.
All that's well and good -- be ready for more product placement and ad pods that other networks have recently adopted -- but the best part about an upfront presentation are the stars that the network drags out to schmooze and booze with those advertisers. And USA brought the big guns, including Tony Shalhoub from
Monk, Debra Messing from
The Starter Wife, Jeffrey Donovan and Bruce Campbell from
Burn Notice, Dulé Hill, James Roday, and Corbin Bernsen from
Psych, Kathryn Erbe and Chris Noth from
Law & Order: Criminal Intent, the WWE's Triple H and Shawn Michaels, and Mary McCormack from the network's new show
In Plain Sight. I got to speak to a few of them; audio of those interviews is after the jump.
Continue reading USA Network upfront: old characters, and a few new ones - AUDIO
Posted Oct 22nd 2007 11:21AM by Richard Keller
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Programming, Pickups and Renewals
Good news for Debra Messing and all of the others involved in the miniseries The Starter Wife. After garnering some pretty decent ratings and several Emmy nominations, USA Networks has given a full series order to the comedy-drama based on the successful novel by Gigi Levangie Grazer.
Former Will & Grace star Messing will return as Molly Kagan, the former Hollywood wife who is now experiencing a second chance at life after her recent divorce. Also returning will be the executive production team of Grazer, Josann McGibbon and Sara Parriott. There is no information as to when filming will begin for the premiere season of The Starter Wife or when the first episode will air.
Continue reading USA gives series order to The Starter Wife
Posted Jun 6th 2007 5:55PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Late Night, TV Royalty, Programming, Celebrities, Talk Show
Charlie Rose: artist Richard Serra (part 2) - The Daily Show: Michael Barone
- The Colbert Report: Carl Bernstein
- The Late Show With David Letterman: Nicole Richie, Artie Lange, and Chrisette Michele
- Jay Leno: Bernie Mac, Chris Cornell, Cat Deely
- Jimmy Kimmel Live: Kevin Costner, Leslie Mann, and Patrick Wolf
- Tavis Smiley: Dennis Hopper
- Late Night With Conan O'Brien: Debra Messing and Nelly Furtado
- The Late, Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Carl Reiner, Jonah Hill, and Bright Eyes
- Last Call With Carson Daly: Olivia Wilde and Peter Bjorn & John
Posted May 31st 2007 5:02PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Programming, What To Watch Tonight
At 8, ABC has the Scripps National Spelling Bee. - CBS has the premiere of Pirate Master at 8.
- FOX has a new Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? and a new So You Think You Can Dance.
- Four more great Friends episodes at 8 on TBS.
- TCM has two hostage dramas starting at 8: The Desperate Hours, with Humphery Bogart, and The Night Holds Terror, with Jack Kelly.
- At 9, USA has the premiere of the mini-series The Starter Wife.
- TLC has a new American Chopper at 9.
- HBO Zone has the high school noir drama Brick at 9.
- At 10, NBC has a new Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.
- Food Network has a new Throwdown with Bobby Flay at 10.
- Also at 10: Spike has a new Ultimate Fighter.
- At 10:30, Comedy Central has a new Showbiz Show with David Spade.
Check your local TV listings for more.
Posted May 2nd 2007 3:23PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Celebrities
Everyone knows that Debra Messing has small breasts, including Messing herself. But NBC execs wanted her to have bigger ones.
At a panel discussion during the Tribeca Film Festival, the Will & Grace star disclosed that she wore "chicken cutlets," a form of silicone breast enhancer, when she shot the pilot of the show. But when the show was picked up by NBC, she didn't want to wear them anymore. After seeing the next couple of episodes, the president of NBC called the producers, wanting to know where her breasts went. They wanted her breasts back, but she refused to wear them.
Continue reading And now, a post about Debra Messing's breasts
Posted Jan 29th 2007 12:25PM by Anna Johns
Filed under: Industry, Watercooler Talk, Celebrities
The Hollywood Reporter has an interesting story about the five "hottest" television actors who are looking for plum roles. And by "hottest", the publication means they're most in demand (plus, they're good-looking).
The five actors that all the networks are trying to scoop up are: Jeremy Sisto, Paul Rudd, Peter Krause, Simon Baker and Gabriel Macht. Honorable mentions include Christian Slater, Steve Zahn, and Michael Vartan, who just took a role in an untitled ABC drama. A look at their profiles on IMDB show that most of these guys (except Slater & Zahn) currently have a break in their schedules.
Continue reading Who are the hottest guys in television?
Posted Jan 13th 2007 12:03PM by Kevin Kelly
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, USA, TCA Press Tour
The USA six hour miniseries
The Starter Wife presented a half and half panel as the closing event at Friday's TCA ... half of the panel was here in Pasadena, the other half in sunny and gorgeous Australia. Based on the novel by Gigi Levangie Grazer, the series is being shot down under, which doubles as Malibu, and follows the trials and tribulations of Gracie Pollock (Debra Messing) as a freshly dumped (via cell phone just beofre her 10th anniversary) "starter wife".
The miniseries is airing a bit oddly, if you ask me. Not that you did, but since I'm telling the story here, let's pretend like it happened. They're airing the first episode as a two hour show, and then four one-hour episodes after that. All on the USA Network this May. While that may be a bit odd, the show looks like it'll pull in fans of
Sex and the City, and is directed by veteran Jon Avnet.
It also stars Joe Mantegna who had the two zinger quotes of the evening:
- Joe Mantegna, on starter wives: "I've been on the same starter wife for 32 years."
- Joe Mantegna: on hearing writer and executive producer Josann McGibbon say that she'd been bitten by a leech in Australia, but that it wouldn't have happened in Los Angeles: "Did you just say there's no leeches in L.A.?!"
Posted Jan 11th 2007 2:38PM by Anna Johns
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Celebrities, USA
Debra Messing will star in
The Starter Wife mini-series on USA Network this spring and summer. She'll play the "newly single and utterly fabulous" Molly Kagan. The series is based on the novel by the same name, about how the 40-something Kagan redefines herself after getting a divorce.
The whole thing is part of Ponds' anti-aging campaign, as Ponds is co-producing the flick. The organization is hosting a contest in advance of
The Starter Wife to find the five 40-something women "who best embody the Pond's brand of grown-up beauty."
The six-hour event premieres May 31 and runs through June 28.
Posted Nov 13th 2006 10:31AM by Brett Love
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, FOX, Family Guy, Animation
(S05E05) I'm beginning to think of this as the Brian & Stewie show. Again this week, their story was much better than the Peter story. With Peter's injured hand, the setup was good, but it kind of headed downhill from there. The opening with Quagmire smuggling the fireworks into the country ("Yeah, that's just as fun."), Chris playing David Koresh and the heavy handed FBI agent, and Stewie ignoring Peter's missing fingers while asking for more juice was great. Finally something for Meg to do too.
Continue reading Family Guy: Whistle While Your Wife Works
Posted Oct 23rd 2006 12:50PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Industry, Programming, Celebrities
It's not even January yet, but that doesn't mean we can't take a sneak peek at some of the shows in development right now. The Futon Critic has a list that they've been updating every week, and while some of the show seem rather bland and the same old same same old, there are a few shows that could be interesting.
Continue reading Check out the new shows you might see next fall
Posted May 18th 2006 11:31PM by Richard Keller
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, NBC, OpEd, Will & Grace
(S08E23) There are those who are die-hard fans of Will & Grace, which premiered on the NBC schedule back in 1998. Then there are those who despise the show, which is about the relationship between Grace Adler (Debra Messing) and her gay friend Will Truman (Eric McCormack). The fans love the back-and-forth between the two characters and the dynamic of their relationship. Those who hate the show may be uncomfortable with the subject matter (homosexuality) or the cartoon-ish characterizations of Will and Grace's friends Jack McFarland (Sean Hayes) and Karen Walker (Megan Mullally ), or the fact that it's just not funny.
I fall under neither category. I liked Will & Grace, but was not a huge fan. I'd watch it if I happened to see something interesting going on, and I'd laugh at a few of the lines (not as heartily as I would laugh during an episode of Scrubs, though). Yet, Jack annoyed me sometimes and the influx of guest stars on the show was somewhat distracting. In fact, over the last few years I didn't really follow it at all.
However, as this would be the last episode of the series, I decided to give it a review. My opinion on the last show of the series? Meh.
Continue reading Will & Grace: The Finale (series finale)
Posted Apr 30th 2006 4:01PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, NBC, OpEd, Will & Grace
NBC has a solid history of confusing and/or misleading
previews (check out tonight's
West Wing, for example -- and that's all I'll say for now), and the tradition
continues in previews for the final episodes of
Will and Grace.
The previews all show Will and
Grace doing things as a "couple": kissing passionately, Will throwing Grace down on the bed to make love to
her, Grace asking Will to be there for her and her baby, and one scene of them walking down the aisle together.
But it's all out of context! The kiss was a kiss of two best friends, the scene with Will and Grace in bed was
a flashback to when they dated and he hadn't come out yet, the scene about the baby is Will and Grace discussing her
future as a single mom, and the scene of them walking down the aisle? That was the ep where Will gave away Grace at her
wedding to Leo!
Of course, maybe it's all misdirection. Maybe the show is going to surprise us all by having
Will turn out to be straight (he never can keep a man, can he?), and she and Will get married and live happily ever
after! Talk about twist endings.
Posted Apr 8th 2006 1:12PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, NBC, OpEd, Will & Grace, Things I Hate About TV
Did you see
Will and Grace the other night? If you recorded it or you're waiting for the rerun,
then stop reading right here. Well, actually, you don't have to stop reading right here, because I won't reveal the
spoiler until after the jump. So I should rephrase the above and say that if you haven't seen it yet, don't click
below. OK? OK.
Continue reading Things I Hate About TV: Sitcoms that kill off characters
Posted Feb 3rd 2006 9:42AM by Anna Johns
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, NBC, Will & Grace
These people are starting to
make Christians look like they don't have a sense of humor. The same group that
yelled and
screamed about
The Book of Daniel's pill-popping priest who conversed with Jesus is now hollering about
Will and Grace. It's not the homosexual characters on the show that they're taking issue with, or the constant
feeling-up of characters, or the references to alcoholism and pill-popping. They're all upset over the plans for a
Britney Spears cameo in which she
plays a Christian chef. They don't like that her character has a cooking segment called
Cruci-fixins. The
group, called The American Family Association, accuses NBC of mocking Christ's crucifixion and says the network will
"further denegrate Christianity" by airing the episode the night before Good Friday. On its
website, this group is urging NBC affiliates to boycott the episode,
just like it got some
affiliates
to do for
Daniel. NBC has already started back-peddling, saying that the episode isn't even written yet so the
name of the cooking segment isn't exactly set in stone.
God, I'd love to see NBC stick to its guns and stay
with
Cruci-fixins. That's funny, y'all. Plus, it'll probably help the floundering show's ratings as it ends
its run on NBC this spring.
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