TVSquad

I decided to bite the bullet and watched the two-hour (!) premiere of 90210 last night. Because the CW decided to not bother sending screeners of either episode to critics, I was girding myself for a show that made me want to wince every thirty seconds or so.

In that regard, it didn't do as badly as I thought. I only winced about once per minute.

Of course, that wasn't a good thing. My fellow Squadder Kona gave the show a "liked it but it needs work" review, and I agree with her about the "needs work" part. I mean, come on! The kids were cliches, the acting was stiff, and the dialogue was boring. I mean, hell, even Jessica Walter's character seemed like it was a caricature of the "slutty, boozy old broad" character we've seen a hundred times before.

But as soon as I saw that girl's head lift up from Ethan's lap in that first segment of the show, I realized something: The CW doesn't want me watching this show.

Talk about a mismatch: Even though there are plenty of people in the press tour audience who fit in The CW's target demographic of women age 18-34, most of the people who seem to grab the microphone and ask questions during most sessions are firmly not in that demo. In fact, their demo could be described as "men, age 35 - infinity." Hearing some of them ask questions of the young stars of 90210, for instance, sounds almost creepy.

That being said, the CW sessions are always good to attend for two reasons: 1) the comedy stylings of communications chief Paul McGuire, and 2) the frustrating non-answers given by CW entertainment president Dawn Ostroff. Both are entertaining in their own way.

Sunday night, ABC closed their day of events with an all-star party, which was held at the same ballroom where lunch was served (kudos to the party planners to making the place more party-like instead of like a rubber-chicken dinner). Here's what I learned there.

When you're at a party or an event, the presence of a few celebrities will get noticed. But at something like this, where 100 people from various ABC, ABC Family and Disney Channel shows were present, everyone just blends and hangs out like normal people. Well, that's not entirely true. The celebs -- many of whom were dressed in their party finest -- talked to each other, and the critics -- many wearing the same business-casual garb they wore during the day -- talked to each other. When the worlds collided, it was usually when a critic tried to formally interview one of the celebrities, which was impossible given the crowd noise and the loud music.

More of what I learned after the jump.

If there's any part of the press tour that's hard it's a situation like this: imagine being in a room with the cast of a show no one really likes much, extolling its virtues to disbelieving ears. To fill the boredom, the uncomfortable stars and creators start cracking jokes that no one thinks are funny. On top of that, there aren't enough questions to fill the time, so reporters start getting creative in order to keep the discomfort level at a minimum.

That's what I got when I sat in on the panel for the new ABC sitcom In Case of Emergency.

(S01E01) I'm not sure how I feel about this show. It's not bad. It's not good either. It's just there, wallowing in a sea of blandness. Honestly, what was so creative about this show that it deserved to get made? Maybe there's some sharp writing in upcoming episodes that wasn't displayed here. Which would be understandable of course. It is the pilot episode and you need to explain what the show is all about: four high school friends reuniting under unusual circumstances. That's a unique idea... right? Not even close.