August blog entries

August 26, 2005 2:25 PM CDT: Picks, pans and news for the fall TV season, plus 'Six Feet Under' feedback

And now... the story you've all been waiting for ... well, maybe not, but here's the good, the bad and the inexplicable of the fall TV season, as determined by myself and my TV co-conpirator, Tribune arts critic Sid Smith.

THE GOOD

Best villains: Donald Sutherland is a charismatic and vindictive politician on "Commander in Chief," and the ever-creepy William Fichtner gives a dramatic boost to the "aliens are among us" drama "Invasion."

Most promising leads: "Everybody Hates Chris" is bound to launch the career of Chris Rock alter-ego Tyler Williams into the stratosphere, and Jason Lee makes a striking impression as naughty good ol' boy Earl in the offbeat NBC comedy "My Name Is Earl."

Most unexpected development: Did you notice that we just used the words "offbeat" and "promising" in relation to an NBC comedy? Will wonders never cease?

Most lovable loony: Adam Goldberg, who had a memorable role a few years back as Chandler's annoying roommate Eddie on "Friends," does a terrific turn as a twitchy lawyer with anger-management problems on "Head Cases."

Most intriguing stunts: "Will & Grace" is planning a live premiere episode (let's hope they plan some funny jokes as well), and "The West Wing" is mulling a live debate for its presidential candidates during November sweeps. Why not a live episode of "The O.C.," complete with a spontaneous, fists-of-fury party fracas?

Best comeback: Don Johnson completely inhabits his role as a grizzled, hard-drinking lawyer in "Just Legal."

Most promising comedy ensemble: Predictions and early assessments often come back to bite us on the behind. Still, although we've seen only one episode, we're willing to say that the gang on "How I Met Your Mother," which is anchored by a deft Alyson Hannigan ("Buffy") and a razor-sharp Neil Patrick Harris (wildly different here from his "Doogie Howser" persona), is already one of the most appealing casts on prime-time network television.

Most promising drama ensemble: "Threshold" boasts not only stylish thrills, a potentially cool story and the always wonderful Carla Gugino, but it's also got a rogue's gallery of great character actors (Peter Dinklage of the film "The Station Agent," Brent Spiner of "Star Trek: The Next Generation." Charles S. Dutton). We'd watch this killer ensemble read the telephone book, but happily, they've got meatier stuff to work with here.

Best trend: We love reality TV -- the "so bad it's good" kind and the "just plain good" kind. But after a long summer of uneven unscripted fare ("Rock Star," "Beauty and the Geek," "Dancing With the Stars" and Kathy Griffin's Bravo show were the welcome, top-notch entries), we're glad that this fall -- unlike last fall -- isn't overstuffed with giant helpings of reality fare. And, miracle of miracles, there's almost no reality on Fox this season. Thank you, Peter Liguori!

Most likely to be on the cover of Entertainment Weekly before the year is out: Wentworth Miller of "Prison Break."

Most hoped-for resolution for the season: The "Lost" survivors finally find out what's in the hatch; a sled named Rosebud.

THE BAD

Worst trend: Several new crime dramas ("Close to Home," "Killer Instinct," "Criminal Minds") are chock-full of gut-churning violence against women, a trend that's already far too prevalent on network drama (see also, Fox's grisly "The Inside"). Sorry, TV types, but having a plucky female detective or lawyer lock up the bad guy does not excuse the overworked dramatic cliché of women in jeopardy. And why is it mostly women who are brutalized? And often attractive, scantily clad women, at that?

Most frightening move: The beloved drama "Everwood" moves to Thursdays this fall. ("Alias" does, too, but because the show is probably ending its run after this season, we're not so upset about that.) The WB stuck by "Gilmore Girls" when it went through a slump; let's hope the network shows the same patience when the plucky, worthy "Everwood" tries its best against behemoths such as "CSI" and "The Apprentice."

Most frightening presences: We see dead people. Lots of them. With "The Ghost Whisperer," "Supernatural" and "Medium," spirits and poltergeists from beyond the grave are almost getting more screen time than the living.

Most enjoyable guilty pleasure: Any soap that busts out the "teen-pregnancy scare" story line within the first 10 minutes should not, by rights, be a show that we get sucked in to. The exception is "Reunion," a show set among six high school friends over the course of 20 years. There are more than a few slices of cheese in this drama, but, to be honest, we kind of can't wait to see the next installment.

Most appealing actors stuck in bad shows: David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel in "Bones," Eric Balfour in "Sex, Love and Secrets," Dennis Hopper in "E-Ring."

Most missed shows: We're still mourning the cancellations of "Joan of Arcadia" and "Judging Amy," and the loss of those shows is all the more galling once you see the rather more pedestrian shows that replace them on CBS' schedule:, "Close to Home" and the superficial "Ghost Whisperer."

Worst monster: We're supposed to be scared by the critter in "Surface," but we don't get to see it much in the premiere. Maybe it'll grow on us … like a fungus.

People we feel the most sorry for: The CBS P.R. employees who are hand-addressing a series of tiny envelopes that are being sent to TV writers and critics. Each one contains part of a puzzle hyping "Threshold." Hey, we already like the show. Stop giving yourselves hand cramps!

THE INEXPLICABLE

Biggest upset: Hot on the heels of the last season's much-praised "Veronica Mars" and the respected (but canceled) "Kevin Hill," UPN has raised its scrappy profile even more with "Everybody Hates Chris," clearly the sitcom all of the bigger networks wish they had bagged.

Strangest decision: NBC has decided to bring back "Joey" with a full-hour episode. But, er, we can't really stomach it for 30 minutes at a time.

Link to the above item.

THE COMEBACKS: Here's the latest (and some of these are spoilers, so beware) on crucial developments and cast changes on several highly anticipated returning shows - though of course, we wouldn't dream of revealing every single morsel of news. Still, here are a few tantalizing tidbits for those who want to be in the know.

"Everwood," returns Sept. 29: Bright Abbott (Chris Pratt) gets two new roommates, Ephram Brown (Gregory Smith), and a medical student named Reid Bardem (Justin Baldoni), who may turn out to be a love interest for Amy Abbott (Emily VanCamp).

"Boston Legal," Sept. 27: Rupert Everett and Heather Locklear guest-star for two episode when the series returns, and there are casting shakeups as well: Rhona Mitra and Monica Potter are gone, and "Ed's" Julie Bowen, as well as newcomers Justin Mentell and Ryan Michelle Bathe, join the legal team at Crane, Poole and Schmidt.

"NCIS," Sept. 19: Lauren Holly joins the cast for a multi-episode arc; she'll play the new NCIS boss, who's trying to keep a lid on the fact that she and Mark Harmon's character have had a romance in the past.

"The Amazing Race," Sept. 27: CBS finally unveils the eagerly anticipated new family version of the show. Teams will be composed of four relatives, and not all teams include children. But as USA Today reported, "half of the teams have at least one contestant younger than 18, and one Virginia family includes brothers ages 11 and eight."

"America's Next Top Model," Sept. 21: Caustic supermodel Janice Dickinson won't be returning as a judge; Brit waif Twiggy, might just have a bit of trouble filling Dickinson's towering stilettos.

"House," Sept. 13: Sela Ward is back for at least seven episodes as the former flame of Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie). Some fans are hoping for a romance between Dr. Allison Cameron (Jennifer Morrison) and House, but what's this rumor we hear about a possible flirtation between the grumpy doc and Lisa Edelstein's character, flinty hospital administrator Lisa Cuddy? Say it ain't so!

"Las Vegas," Sept. 19: Lara Flynn Boyle joins the cast as a high-living casino owner.

"Lost," Sept. 21: We'll find out what's in the hatch, thank goodness. Count on Julie Bowen to return for one episode as Jack's wife, and Michelle Rodriguez, who guested last season, also will be back. Joining the cast as new island residents are Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje from "Oz" and Sarah Watrous from "The Drew Carey Show." And there's this to look forward to: Co-creator Damon Lindelof told TV Guide's Michael Ausiello that "By the finale of Season 2, you will know why the plane crashed."

"Desperate Housewives," Sept. 25: Richard Burgi, who plays Susan's ex, will have a more prominent role on the show, but the star attraction this fall will be Alfre Woodard, Wisteria Lane's newest resident and someone with - who'd have thunk it? - a lot to hide. "My son and I have a lot of baggage with us and, it's not just the stuff that we were unloading from the car," Woodard told Eonline.com's television columnist, Kristin Veitch. "And it might make a few people's hair stand on end when they're watching! There's something very provocative that happens at the very end of the first episode, and that's the thing that'll make you go, `Whooooaa!' It plays out over months."

"Alias," Sept. 29: Jennifer Garner (for those of you who have been living under a rock for the last year) married Ben Affleck over the summer and is due to give birth to a baby in a few months. Garner's pregnancy will be written into the show (on the show, Michael Vaughn is the father), and Balthazar Getty and Rachel Nichols of Fox's "The Inside" join the show as a new undercover agent and CIA analyst, respectively. Exiting the show is Greg Grunberg, who played Agent Eric Weiss, and, if Internet scuttlebutt is to be believed, Michael Vartan, who plays Vaughn, may be leaving too - that's the possibility the fans at www.mvcampaign.com are protesting.

"The O.C.," Sept. 8: Jeri Ryan plays a new pal of Kirsten Cohen's, whom Kirsten meets in rehab. Meanwhile over at Harbor High, Summer (Rachel Bilson) will have to fend off a newcomer named Taylor Townsend (Autumn Reeser), who tried to take over as top dog in the school's social hierarchy. Finally, trouble-magnet Marissa will be in the center of a big bunch of drama, as usual: As the season opens, the authorities still don't know if Marissa or Ryan shot Ryan's brother, Trey (viewers, of course, know it was Marissa who pumped Trey full of lead).

"Joey," Sept. 22: Joey will have a new pal, a fellow actor named Zach, who'll be played by Miguel Nunez, Jr., and Joey will get cast in a big summer movie. Hilarity will no doubt ensue.

"Smallville," Sept. 29: Guest star Tom Wopat will rejoin his former "Dukes of Hazzard" co-star John Schneider for one episode of this superhero-in-training drama, and "Buffy" cult favorite James Marsters (he played the vampire Spike) will have a multi-episode arc as the evil Brainiac.

"Numbers," Sept. 23: Diane Farr, the lone female firefighter on "Rescue Me," joins this CBS drama when it returns, replacing Sabrina Lloyd, who left the show just before it ended its spring run.

"ER," Sept. 22: Sherry Stringfield, who was set to only appear in a handful of episodes this season, will not return to "ER," making a second exit from the veteran medical drama. Her place will no doubt be taken by some earnest young person whose name we won't be able to remember from week to week.

"Grey's Anatomy," Sept. 25: There will be more shenanigans among Meredith Grey, her hot doc lover and his wife, but I also came across this tidbit on CBS' "Grey's Anatomy" Web site: "Dr. Richard Webber, Seattle Grace's paternal but no-nonsense chief of surgery … harbors some secrets of his own concerning Meredith's mother." Dun-dun-dun!

"Law & Order: Criminal Intent," Sept. 25: This year, the crime-fighting duo of Chris Noth and Annabella Sciorra will appear in half of "C.I.'s" 22 episodes; Vincent D'Onofrio and Kathryn Erbe will star in the other 11 episodes.

"The West Wing," Sept. 25: Jimmy Smits and Alan Alda return as presidential candidates Matthew Santos and Arnold Vinick; producers reportedly haven't decided yet which side (Santos is a Democrat and Vinick's a Republican) will win. Perhaps a rumored live debate between the candidates will help the bigwigs decide who ends up in the White House.

"Veronica Mars," Sept. 28: New cast members promise to shake things up on this critically acclaimed detective show. Charisma Carpenter - like previous "Mars" guest star Alyson Hannigan, an alumna of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel" - joins the cast as a trophy wife named Kendall Casablancas (love the name), and Steve Guttenberg comes aboard as a mayoral candidate in Veronica's hometown of Neptune, Calif.

For more on the fall TV season, check out Sunday's Arts & Entertainment section.

Link to the above item.

FEET OF FURY: Here's the feedback I got from readers who agreed -- or strongly, and with colorful language, disagreed -- with my assessment of the end of "Six Feet Under" (Good riddance was my theme here. By the way, don't read this if you haven't seen the finale yet):

"I read other critics praise the finale, and I was just frustrated and yelling at the TV (which I never do.) I was so saddened by the wasted potential of the series run of 'Six Feet Under.' (Maybe that was their plan for the series all along, to make a huge metaphor?) None of the 'Six Feet Under' characters, played by very appealing actors, ever seemed to learn. I think Peter Krause lamented recently in TV Guide about the 'Wile E. Coyote' aspect of Nate's character. There was no redemption; some of the characters, definitely Brenda, seem to have earned it."
"Your review [was bad]! I'm not going to take you seriously as a writer if your argument boils down to it was 'just weird.'"
"You didn't get it. Ignorance is obviously bliss for you..."
"At least I'm not the only disillusioned one. I agree that 'S.F.U.' got to be a little too weird. It started during the third season when the death du jour stopped being an integral part of the plot. The finale [was bad] if only because of the Disney ending for all those highly dysfunctional people. [Darn], it took me 35 years to part company with my demons!

"The fast-forward was a little chilling but everyone seemed to die of a heart attack, except the lone black dude who gets shot. And some wag on the HBO boards suggested Brenda died because Billy talked her to death.

"Here's what I think should have happened:
- Ruth ends up with Bettina after figuring out she really doesn't like men.
- Claire was really dead after the crash but didn't figure it out until the end.
- David sells the business to Rico; he and Keith retire to Saugatuck, Mich.
- Rico ends up retiring filthy rich, or at least comfortably well off.
- George loses it once and for all and ends up in a nursing home with Alzheimers
- Brenda raises the two kids and becomes her mother."
"In my humble opinion I thought the show was great, and the writers ended it at just the right time. Their writing was creative and substantive. The dilemmas of the main characters allowed the audience to relate on a number of levels. Ultimately through experience people realize the importance of growth and living. We weren't born smart and normally we act like a bunch of trained monkeys and make less than optimal decisions."
"I wondered if some viewers watched the last two years because it made their own grim life situations seem positively giddy? Unfortunately, according to my daughter, son-in-law and neighbors, you (and I) are in the distinct minority regarding the demise of the Fisher family."
"Your comments about 'Six Feet Under' really resonated with me. I loved it during its first season, but came to hate it. The extreme emotion of hate can only be explained by the fact that it had such potential in its infancy . . . and then that potential was just frittered away as the writers tried way too hard to be dark and moody.

"Bring on 'Veronica Mars!'"

You said it, reader!

Link to the above item.

August 24, 2005 9:35 PM CDT: In the Big House with the 'Prison Break' cast

Last Wednesday, I spent time behind bars -- sort of. I visited the set of Fox's "Prison Break," which is filmed partly at Joliet Correctional Center, the imposing fortress built in 1858. ("Prison Break" premieres 7 p.m. Monday on WFLD-Ch. 32.)

The end result was a that appeared in the Tribune Thursday; I've also got the following interviews with cast members Dominic Purcell, Wentworth Miller and Sarah Wayne Callies for you.

Purcell plays a Death Row inmate at the fictional Fox River Penitentiary, and Miller plays his brother, Michael Scofield, who gets himself sent to the Big House so he can bust his big brother out. Callies is the prison's doctor, Sara Tancredi.

Wentworth Miller Miller, who had a notable role last season on "Joan of Arcadia" as an emissary from the devil, plays structural engineer Michael Scofield, the brother of Death Row convict Lincoln Burrows.

On the relationship between Burrows and Scofield: "The brothers are very different but they're also very close. Our father was not on the scene from an early age, our mother died when we were both children, and I was raised by my older brother. He's made a lot of sacrifices so that I could walk a better road than he did, and I feel not only love and loyalty but that I owe him my life and all the success and privileges that I've enjoyed.

"And the interesting question that the series tackles episode to episode is, Who was Michael before he decided to hold up a bank? Because he has crafted a certain persona that he thinks will help him navigate some very treacherous waters once he's on the inside, but before that, he had a career and friends and girlfriends and I think you'll see pieces of that persona popping up from time to time in unexpected ways as his relationships with those that he deals with on the inside grow and become more complicated.

"The prison character [that Michael portrays] leapfrogs into maybe half a dozen other characters because he's a different person with the warden than he is with the mob boss. And he's someone else again with the beautiful lady doctor. So as an actor, it's a real challenge, and I'm intrigued to play all of these different parts which all spring from one character.

"All he has is his wits. He's not a superhero. He doesn't have any Jackie Chan martial-arts moves. And every episode his planning and preparation and cleverness run smack into the wall of fate, chance, accident, human nature, things you can't predict or prepare for."

On how Michael's elaborate plans work once he gets inside the prison: "Michael's perspective on prison versus the reality of prison is the difference between writing about a car accident and actually being in a car accident. Things get difficult very quickly, by the end of the first night, by the end of the second hour, shocking, frightening things have happened. And I think that's our challenge, because we're not on cable. We can't go to the places that cable can go. So within those boundaries, how can we be as scary and affecting as possible. That's the challenge.

"That's why it's important to get across that it's an action-adventure thriller, but it's also a story about family, about how far one man is willing to go to save a loved one. And I think that's something that everyone can relate to.

"I think he's a good man with a noble cause that's forced him to take a walk on the dark side. He's played it by the book up until this point, but now he's left no choice but to rewrite the book."

On doing scenes at Joliet: "It's been invaluable. You could not re-create this set on a soundstage somewhere in Los Angeles. I think working in Joliet lends the project a degree of authenticity and integrity that you can't put a price on. It's No. 1 on the call sheet. It's a character itself.

"I'm not sure I believe in the idea of haunted houses, but if there were ever a place that's haunted, it would be Joliet. You have 150 years of pain and violence and fear that all took place in one location. We're walking across a prison yard every day where men used to be executed. It's a profound location with a pervasive sense of despair. It's surprising how easy it is to forget.

"I'll be shooting a scene out in the prison yard with the cast and the crew and having a good time, and then I'll realize that if I were actually an inmate, I'd only be out here for an hour a day.

"If a loved one, a relative ended up on Death Row, I'd probably whip up a few petitions, make a few phone calls. But Michael gets the chance to go a step beyond that."

On the authenticity of the set: "We're lucky to have a number of ex-cons and [corrections officers] working as extras on the set. It's very strange when someone comes up to you and asks if they can buy a cigarette. [In talking to them, you find] there's a wealth of stories out there. Some horrible, horrible things.

"One C.O. was telling me that when they shut the cells, it's all automated. The prisoners, to amuse themselves or [tick] off the COs, would weave in and out and more often than not someone will get caught as the door closes, and it won't stop for flesh, so you'd walk along and find some fingers. It's brutal.

"You can do as much research as you want, but you'll never really get what it is to be an inmate unless you are one. The best I can do is approximate that experience as accurately and honestly as possible. I'm not from the hardcore Method school of acting where I'm sleeping in the cell every night. Really, all you have to do is hear that cell door close once, hear that bang and you get an idea of what that might be like. The lack of privacy. The lack of rights. You're suddenly an animal in a zoo. And I think that's Michael's experience. It's like waking up in a lion's den in the morning, and if you want to escape, you have to figure out an escape route, but you also have to keep your eye on the lion.

On getting out to enjoy Chicago … or not: "I have a place where I can see the amazing things that Chicago has to offer, but I have yet to sample any of it. All the great food and the restaurants. … I did spend a great night, though, with Gary Sinise, a few years ago when I was here for the Chicago Film Festival [Miller was in `The Human Stain,' which was screened at the festival]. He took me on a guided tour of Steppenwolf, and there's a hallway upstairs lined with black and white photos from the past. You can see a snapshot of Joan Allen and John Malkovich doing `Burn This' in 197-something."

On "Joan of Arcadia": "I was attached [to `Prison Break'], [`Joan'] producers knew that when they cast me, but I got the impression they had other things on their mind when they cast me in that role. It's a real shame [`Joan' was canceled] because I think that show addressed certain issues that network TV doesn't usually address."

Dominic Purcell Purcell, star of Fox's "John Doe," plays Death Row inmate Lincoln Burrows.

On filming in Joliet: "It's depressing, it's dark. At first it was very depressing … it was kind of just not nice, not pleasant. But more and more, as we're shooting, it feels more like a studio or more like a home. It's losing its dramatic impact, in a way. I don't mean that in a bad kind of way, we're just becoming familiar with it.

"[But] It certainly helps in terms of mood. You realize that there's a certain thickness to the atmosphere here. You can't get away from it. A guy like [John Wayne] Gacy - I do a lot of my filming in his cell, the cell that he was actually in. [One day] I got on set and the makeup person refused to go into the cell. I said, `What's going on?' and she said, `That's where Gacy was.' They use that cell because it has the best light.

"This [place] is here for you, you're not working as hard. Sometimes I sit in the cell by myself when no one's around. Certain scenes I'll just hang in there for a while, just to get the thing happening. It has a resonance. I can't imagine staying in one for 23 hours a day."

On his character: "[He's a] troubled guy who just got on the wrong path. He's not evil, he's not sick, just a bit of a bad boy that went wrong and got busted. He got into a situation where he owed money to the mob and they basically said to him, `We want you to do this hit. …' That's basically it. The guy's a smart individual, he's intelligent, street smart. He realizes he's caused a lot of pain, and now he's facing death, for something he basically didn't do.

"He's got a lot of regret. He realized what he did was wrong. … What he can't get past is that he's on Death Row for someone else's plot,; that's the thing that's driving him nuts. "You see the growth and the journey that Lincoln's on. He starts to realize that … he believes that there is a sense of hope there that he could get off."

On the research he did for the role and a visit to nearby Stateville Correctional Center: "I read a lot of books. I went to Stateville, it was a real eye-opener. It was funny, I was expecting this surreal experience and I got in there and it was kind of daunting in that the inmates are not monsters or freaky-looking creatures. They're actually human beings who have done bad … it's a real insight into what the human species is capable of doing.

"And that was freaky, just realizing that upfront, really, really close. The worst experience was going to F house, I think it's F House or X House, I'm not sure. It's solitary confinement, it's a big roundhouse. Walking into that place, that was surreal. That was beyond surreal. That was the spookiest thing I've ever done in my life, walking into this place where all these guys are locked behind plastic glass so they won't throw urine and feces at you. And all of them screaming like caged animals, because to them it's the highlight of their day, seeing a new face. It's huge excitement for them, they just get out of control. Some of them are still, really still, and are just looking at you. It's a really, really intense experience."

On capital punishment issues: "There are guys are there who are on Death Row who didn't do it. I can't even … I mean, I can go there because I have to go there as an actor, but going there, it does freak you out."

On co-star Wentworth Miller: "He's great. He's a great actor, has a really interesting presence. It kind of reminds me of … he has a quality that Anthony Hopkins has, he has stillness and precision in his delivery. It's really interesting."

On the premise for the show: "I just think it's a wonderful story, full stop. I think it's a really interesting idea. It's a high-concept show, it's refreshing, it doesn't follow formulaic stuff that a majority of TV shows do. It gives an insight into how the other half live in a way. It's just not a prison drama.

"We see a lot of relationships, how they're affected by inmates and how their lives spun around and then we see corrupt government officials and how they have the potential to [mess] anyone's life up. You see that first-hand, and you see the excitement that, the real possibility that these guys are going to break out. I think you'll find that if it's a hit, there'll be another prison break. There's a great human fabric to this show; it explores a lot of things, but at the same time, it's very entertaining.

"There was stuff that I was offered last season and I just didn't want to do it. And not because the script wasn't good, it was just the same old stuff. It's like wearing an old hat. You want to do something different and just keep things fresh."

On Chicago: "I love the city, I think it's fantastic. My family is in L.A. and whenever I can, I try to get back there. [I've been in Chicago] about two months now. [He doesn't go out too much] I'm pretty much, I kind of get home and just hang out and crash."

On using an American accent (Purcell was raised in Australia): "I've been here for five years, maybe four. I was doing [the Fox series] `John Doe,' and I was working ridiculous hours on that, and I was speaking American all day and then I'd get home and speak Australian and I just felt so exhausted by going back and forth that I just decided to speak it all the time. Now I just speak American."

Sarah Wayne Callies Callies plays prison doctor Sara Tancredi, who's also the daughter of the fictional governor of Illinois

On filming at Joliet: "There are ghosts. Whether they're in your head or whether they're in the cells, you feel them.

"If we were on a set in L.A., we'd have to use our imaginations. And two things would happen - each one of us would imagine something different but [also,] I think often imagination can often lead to at least archetype, if not stereotypes. Whereas here, it's those little idiosyncrasies that I could never have cooked up.

"In the Death Row cells, it says - carved into the floor - `It's never too late to mend.' Which would enrage me if I were passing that walking to and from the cell where I was going to die. I could never come up with that in my mind. And if our set designers had come up with it, probably somebody at the network or studio would have said, `No, that's not believable.' But it's here, and we work with it. And I think that generates a lot of creativity.

"[There's also a sign over a doorway that says, 'Make Time Serve You.'] I've sort of polled people about this informally. It's above what used to be the library and next to the chapel. Some people say, 'Oh, it's a very uplifting exhortation that you should get an education and find God so that when you get out you're a better man.' I find it insulting. I find it glib. But then, maybe it meant something different in the late 1800s when they built this thing."

On her role: "This was a part that was very out of the [usual] mold, a piece that was out of the mold. It's exciting to work on something with greater relevance. This is a show about a man who, at this point, we believe is innocent, who has been sentenced to die. Which raises an enormous number of questions about the death penalty. And that's increasingly an issue that will become relevant as we negotiate issues with the new Supreme Court, issues of, how does the right to life argument apply to death penalty?

"I'm excited to be a part of what hopefully will be a dialogue. We have a scene where a man is sitting in an electric chair. I don't know how you can look at that and not think, `I wonder what state put someone to death today.'."

"That's not to say that shows that exist for reasons that have more to do with entertainment are somehow less valid artistically, I don't mean that at all. I just mean that, having worked on some of those, it's now fun to move into this. And be able to call a doctor who's treated people in prison, who are on Death Row, and talk to him about what that's like.

"It's a strange paradox. As a doctor, you're job is to preserve life. But the state of Illinois has decided that you can't execute someone who is not mentally and physically in perfect health. So as a physician in a prison, your job with death row Death Row inmates is to keep them healthy enough to kill. That's a ridiculous paradox.

"I think Dr. Tancredi is furious at having to give physicals to men who are going to be executed in a month.

"At a certain point, in her past, she's worked with Doctors without Borders, worked in the Third World, and I think it gave her a different sense of the value of life and the potential of medicine in ways that resonated with her, for First World applications in a prison population. And frankly I think she feels a certain level of responsibility to these guys. Partly because who her father is.

"I think it's driven an enormous wedge between her and her father, I doubt they've spoken since she started working here. And the fact that she's outspoken in her death penalty views drives a wedge between them. But she's the kind of person who would rather take a stand and sleep well at night than have a peaceful family."

On a research trip to Stateville Correctional Center: "I went to Stateville and … it's crazy. Part of what's crazy is that I expected these men to either to be animals, monsters or to be downtrodden victims of an unjust penal system. They were neither. They were people. Which is so much more complicated. It's dirtier, it's messier, it's more chaotic, and there are no easy answers, and everything has to be taken on a case-by-case basis.

"That's what Dr. Tancredi found. I think she kind of came in to be a crusader, and she found herself neck deep in the real problems of trying to help people, as opposed to monsters or victims."

On Dr. Tancredi and Michael Scofield: "Here's what I think, had they met anywhere besides prison, she'd look real hard at him. I think because they met under the circumstances they have, she's trying real hard not to look at him at all. all."

Link to the above item.

August 24, 2004 2:05 PM CDT: 'Rock Star' Jessica speaks

My Tribune colleague Maria Mooshil interviewed last week's "Rock Star" ejectee, Chicagoan Jessica Robinson, for a piece that appears in Wednesday's Tribune. She was kind enough to pass on the full transcript of the interview with Jessica, who, along with Marty Casey, made up the Chicago contingent of the show.

Take it away, Maria, and thanks!

The reality is that Jessica Robinson just wasn't right to be lead singer for the rock band INXS. But the 26-year-old Rogers Park resident can live with that given that she was among 15 singers chosen worldwide to be a contestant on "Rock Star: INXS."

The winner of the Mark Burnett-produced reality show, now down to seven aspiring rock stars, will become the new lead singer of the Australian-based band, which lost frontman Michael Hutchence to suicide in 1997.

The show, which airs on CBS (at 9 p.m. Tuesdays and 8 p.m. Wednesdays) and VH1 (7 p.m. Sundays) through Sept. 20, allows viewers to vote for their favorite performances on Tuesday; on Wednesday, the three who received the fewest votes perform an INXS song for the band, which then sends one or two of them home, declaring them "just not right for our band, INXS."

WomanNews spoke with Robinson, lead vocalist for the Chicago-based band CoverGurl on Friday after she returned from Los Angeles.

Aside from your competitor J.D., "Rock Star: INXS" is just about the nicest reality show I've ever seen. Is that real or is it editing?

Jessica: "It's very real. People might have a hard time believing that. Some people think we should hate each other, but we don't. ... Everyone realizes there's a place in the [music] business for everyone. We're not really competing against each other. INXS is going to pick who they want. ... It's a refreshing thing: A show where you watch and the people really like each other. It's very genuine."

Whom did you become the closest to?

Jessica: "Probably my roommate Deanna [Johnston]. .. .. . Out of everyone in the house, we're the two who are most similar. By chance we roomed together. But I really like everyone in the house. Even J.D."

He's been portrayed as sort of evil. Is he?

Jessica: "I don't know. I haven't seen any of the shows! All I can say is J.D. is a very unique person. He can be very genuine at times, and other times, he's just not. You have to understand how he is. A lot of people at the house understand him and that's why we love him so much."

Of all the songs you performed, which was your favorite?

Jessica: "That's a tough call. I really enjoyed doing 'Purple Haze.' I really liked doing 'Blister in the Sun,' and of course 'Elegantly Wasted' is probably my favorite of the INXS songs.

You really did kick butt on the INXS songs.

Jessica: "I think it was because I was very comfortable with those songs. I've been listening to them for a very long time."

There came a point in the show where you seemed resigned to being in the bottom three. I think at one point you actually said on air that the public hated you.

Jessica: "The first time, you think, OK, maybe I didn't have a good performance. The second time, you're thinking, What's going on? The third time, you're thinking, Oh, people hate me! [But] I got to the point where I felt it was a really positive thing to be in the bottom three because you got to perform INXS songs for the band. I left on a high note. I felt really good about the last couple of performances. I don't feel bad about anything that has happened and I don't regret anything."

Your choice of outfits and on-stage dancing seemed to be an issue.

Jessica: "All I can say about that, is, if people could see me with my band previously, that's me. That's my stage presence. I'm not going to apologize for what I do on stage ... That's me. That's what I do."

I think they're jealous of your abs! Do you do any special workouts?

Jessica: "I don't. I'm a really lazy person. I should get into the gym more often. I just have to thank my parents for that [good genes]."

Do you think INXS would really choose a woman?

Jessica: "I definitely think they would choose a woman. The girls who are in the competition right now are so strong vocally, and their performances are great. You watch them on stage and you want to see more of them. I think [the band is] totally open to having a female singer. It brings a different feel to the show, and I think they're looking for something different. And the best way to get that is with a woman."

Who are you rooting for now?

Jessica: "I'm rooting for everyone, not just one person. .. .. . I can't wait to see what happens. I've been living it for six weeks, and I want to see what happens."

What's next for you?

Jessica: "I don't know. I'm really open. I'd love to go and keep playing with my band, start writing some more music and hopefully get a record deal and be able to do a world tour with a really kick-ass rock band."

Link to the above item.

August 19, 2005, 1:15 PM CDT: 'Six Feet Under': Good riddance. Time to say goodbye to a good show turned bad

"Six Feet Under," one of HBO's signature series, ends its five-season run at 8 p.m. Sunday.

Good riddance.

I know that sounds harsh, as many fans will be mourning the loss of this show, which was, after all, about loss. But the saga of the fractured Fisher family and their funeral home went on at least two years too long.

If you think I soured on the show because it was too dark, you're mostly wrong. It was dark, but in the first few seasons, there was levity and love and wisdom interspersed with the dark stuff. And there were more scenes with the Fisher kids' dead dad (Richard Jenkins), whom I thought was a hoot.

What I objected to in the last two years was how predictably dark "Six Feet Under" was.

Characters almost always made the wrong choices, dated the wrong people, married the wrong people, made mean comments and did self-destructive things. It's boring when you invariably know what's going to happen next, and when characters never, ever learn from experience.

Not only did the plots go in circles, "Six Feet Under" presented misery as normal. Almost every person on the show was trapped in an airless prison of depression and self-hatred. Whose life is that suffused with suffering -- every second of every day? It just defied reason and reality that all the Fishers and everyone they knew were so unhappy all the time. The "Six Feet" corpses, who occasionally chatted with the cast in fantasy sequences, often had more hopeful outlooks on life than the live people on the show, which is just weird.

The last four episodes of the show, including the 75-minute finale, have centered around the death of Nate Fisher (Peter Krause) and have contained some powerful, beautiful, impressive moments that reminded me once again why the "Six Feet" cast and writers have gotten an armload of Emmy nominations every year. But the biggest crime of the past few seasons has been that, much of the time, these extraordinary actors haven't gotten material worthy of their talents.

Rachel Griffith's character, Brenda Chenowith, in particular, became only more toxic and shrewish as time went on. And did we really need to see another incestuous story line between her and her on-screen brother? Even if the recent scene of her and her brother in bed was a dream -- ick! And we've been down that road several times before.

Griffith and Brenda, whose tortured journey toward redemption and self-respect was so gripping in the past, both deserved better. So did viewers.

See you later, "Six Feet Under." I hope you find peace in the afterlife.

Monday in Tempo: Sid Smith analyzes the final episode.

Link to the above item.

SIGNS OF THE TIMES: The four best signs spotted on a Wednesday visit to the set of "Prison Break," which is filming in the former Joliet Correctional Center. And these are real signs, not fake ones put up by the crew of the Fox series, which premieres Aug. 29:

Over a doorway facing the prison yard: "Let Time Serve You."
In solitary confinement: "It's Never Too Late To Mend."
In the prison yard: "Sit Down When Shots Are Fired."
Though it closed in 2002, these signs can still be seen near the prison: "Do Not Pick Up Hitchhikers."

Link to the above item.

NEW FREQUENCY? Late last year, "Global Frequency," an intriguing show about a network of freelance intelligence operatives led by Michelle Forbes as the enigmatic Miranda Zero, seemed like a lock for the WB network's midseason schedule.

Then, thanks to an executive shuffle at the network, it wasn't.

In June, the "Global Frequency" pilot hit peer-to-peer networks such as BitTorrent, where thousands of fans worldwide became rabid fans of the terrific Forbes and the stylish show, which is based on graphic novels by Warren Ellis.

Now "Global Frequency" is one of the most buzzed-about shows of the year. And John Rogers, the show's writer and executive producer, is in talks with the WB network to find a legal way to distribute the show -- and maybe even bring the series back to life.

"We've got fans saying, `I love the show. I will pay money for the DVD,' " says Rogers, who has been chronicling the saga of "Global Frequency" on his blog, kfmonkey.blogspot.com. "We should reward that. Fans are not just a metric for us to use to get money out of advertisers. We in the entertainment industry have to change our relationship with the people who watch our shows. To have a successful show with the current model [of advertiser-supported TV], you need 7 to 10 million viewers. To have a successful DVD, you need 1 million. That's a big difference.

"Hollywood executives are so terrified of people stealing content, so they're working on DRM [digital rights management software]. It's the equivalent of the Wright brothers deciding they have to come up with a fully functioning 737 before they take off from that hill in Kitty Hawk," Rogers noted. "The music industry showed that if you give people a cheap, legal way [to get content], they'll do that."

Though he says the chances of bringing back "Global Frequency" are not great, it's still possible. And at the very least, the popularity of the pilot in the online world and the willingness of fans to campaign on behalf of the show with sites such as www.frequencysite.com is a hopeful development for creative types who want more control over their own futures.

A group of writers and producers who "came up in the shadow of Joss Whedon," as Rogers put it, are looking at ways of working with fans and financiers to come up with other ways of funding and distributing TV.

"You want to write for the fans that need to see your show, that want to fight for it," said Rogers, who is himself a big fan of Ellis' concept for the Global Frequency, an army of experts and volunteers who fight terrorism and prevent disasters.

"The idea is that you could save the world -- not Jack Bauer, not Sydney Bristow," Rogers said. "That's a pretty powerful message in today's world."

Link to the above item.

SOMETHING TO WATCH: In our weekly Friday of good things to watch this weekend, this item got trimmed out for space reason, but I think these shows are worthy of a look, so here you go:

"Hopeless Pictures," "Greg the Bunny" and "The Festival," 9 p.m. Friday, IFC: What's behind the spate of shows featuring puppets and dolls doing and saying things entirely unsuited to kids' shows? "Greg the Bunny," which bubbled up on Manhattan cable access in 1997, is the subversive precursor of shows such as "Wonder Showzen" and "Robot Chicken," and is the middle part of this hourlong IFC trio of programs about the filmmaking world. "Greg" and his pals star in a puppet remake of "Annie Hall," "Hopeless Pictures" is an entertaining animated show about stressed-out showbiz types in L.A., and "The Festival" is a faux reality show and dead-on satire about a Sundance-style film festival.

Link to the above item.

JUWANNA-TOURAGE: In the continuing quest to improve the lackluster "Friends" spinoff "Joey," Miguel Nunez, Jr. ("Juwanna Man") has been cast as Zach, a new pal of Joey Tribbiani's.

The best thing about Nunez's casting is that it'll put a non-white face into a fall prime-time season that is shaping up to be surprisingly lacking in diversity. Let's just hope, for Nunez's sake, that the role of Zach has more depth than most examples of what I call "TBF": The Black Friend, which is defined as the lead actor's minority pal, whose role has no definition other than being a minority and being a pal.

This season the NBC sitcom will focus less on Joey's hapless family life and more on his growing success in the entertainment world. In upcoming episodes, Variety reports, Joey will be cast in a "summer tentpole feature" and buy a nice new house.

So, in other words, "Joey" will be more like "Entourage." But not as funny.

Speaking of "Entourage," yes, it's terrific and all that, but would it be too much to ask that it run longer? I clocked the Aug. 14 episode, and once you subtract opening and closing credits, the episode was barely 21 minutes long.

The show should live up to its billing as a half-hour comedy. And maybe next season, they could focus more on TCA: The Crazy Agent. Love that Ari Gold.

Link to the above item.

NEWS YOU CAN USE:

Favorite TV ad of the week: The Target back-to-school ad that uses Sir Mix-a-Lot's "Baby Got Back." In the Target ad, the ode to backsides is now an song about school gear: "We like back packs and we cannot lie, with the cell phone pocket on the side." I'd whine about the sacrilegious alteration of the rap classic's lyrics, but the ad is just too darn fun.

Speaking of sacrilege, the most incongruous TV moment of the week, was the appearance, midway through Wednesday's episode of "Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List," of an ad from the Church of the Latter Day Saints touting the church's free DVDs about the life of Jesus. And the episode was one in which she was seen promoting her own irreverent "Allegedly" DVD, coincidentally enough.

Here's just a sampling of the 2005 Tubey Awards, which are now up at TelevisionWithoutPity.com: "best performance by an inanimate object in the 2004-2005 season" goes to the God Machine from "The Daily Show"; "most ludicrous plotline" goes to "Lost" for the "Kate robs a bank to steal a little toy airplane" episode; the "worst crimes against fashion" award goes to, not surprisingly, Marissa from "The O.C."
The Food Network has unveiled a site with viewers' homemade video homages to the "Iron Chef" franchise at www.howdoyouironchef.com.
"Supernatural" and "Close to Home," two new fall dramas, have very different premises, but they both have one thing in common: They're not great at promoting basic baby safety. "Supernatural," an, er, supernatural drama, shows a baby sleeping in a crib within a nest of several blankets. A brief scene in the legal/crime drama "Close to Home" shows a baby on her tummy with a blanket in her crib. Experts recommend that babies be put on their backs to sleep on a "firm, flat mattress," according to SIDS-Network.org.
A reader ("Joe from the North Side) wrote in with an interesting take on whether Howard Stern's venture into In Demand programming (which I predicted would flop). I thought it was worth reprinting at length here:

"I have to say that I have to agree with your instincts about Stern and his fans and his new, not well thought-out decision. As jossip.com stated when the news first broke: Howard Stern wants you to pay twice.

"I was all set to purchase Sirius and follow, but when I heard his decision and and then found out that a monthly In Demand subscription to his show would start at about $10 a month, I decided to bail completely. And I've listened steadily for 12 or 14 years. …

"Thirteen dollars month for Sirius plus another $10-$15 for the TV version? I don't think one show is worth $25-$30 a month, I don't care who it is or what he's doing or how uncensored he is… .

"And I like most of the content he has (except I draw the line at the guy who vomits). … "In the past 10 years - since Stern and his show started on E! - his popularity has really soared from basically being a N.Y./L.A. guy to the rest of the country. … Stern's miscalulation is that he doesn't realize that his popularity over the last ten years was greatly dependent on the E! show. Many times guests would come on - celebrities - and say, I can't listen in the morning but I watch the E! show.

"His motivation [to go to Sirius and In Demand] is probably half censorship/FCC, half profit. He owns the E! shows and can offer any of them to In Demand subscribers and get his cut of the action. Remember, the uncensored versions of the E! show he offers now on his Web site are $5 to $6 per show and can only be downloaded and watched for a 24-hour period.

"That's pure greed. (He could have sold them for that much on DVD, but DVDs last more than 24 hours.)

"Censorship and FCC fine issues fade, as they often do, over time with new and different public concerns and the change of administrations, but being locked into a five-year contact will not. He's stuck.

"He overreacted to the FCC threats. And there's no going back to syndication and the huge advertising rates he commanded when the heat [was] off.

"Sirius has stated that they only needed a million new people to subcribe to pay for Stern - and he's stated they already have them - but they have to keep subscribing. What if they don't? What if too many cancel after a year? How happy is Sirius going to be if they don't get a steady stream of new and repeat customers? That's their big gamble on Stern. …

"A hundred dollars for the basic [Sirius] equipment, minimum, plus the $13 a month, plus maybe $15 a month for unlimited access to the TV version? How many people are going to spring for all that?

"Stern on Sirius and the TV show on basic [cable] or an HBO-type channel: still works. Stern on Sirius and the TV show on In Demand: too much to ask. I think that only the real hard-core fans will pay for all of it.

"And the problem for Stern is that when his antics are out of the public eye and his audience becomes a niche one, he won't be watercooler talk anymore. Word of mouth about what he's doing dies. And then people will start to forget about him.

"And his audience becomes static and all of a sudden he can't book all the guests he used to.....

"I'm real disappointed with this decision he made and I think it will come back to bite him. That's just my guess."

Link to the above items.

August 18, 2005 3:03 PM CDT: Rematch!

The fans complained, and ABC, in the spirit of a network that wants to maximize profits on a very good thing, listened.

Kelly Monaco and John O'Hurley will go toe-to-toe again in a "Dancing with the Stars: Dance-off."

On Tuesday, Sept. 20, Monaco and O'Hurley and their respective partners will compete again in the 90-minute "dance-off." The live broadcast will air in Chicago at 7:30 p.m. on WLS-Ch. 7.

"The dance-off will feature each couple performing several styles of dance -- Latin, ballroom and freestyle," according to ABC's press release. "Our colorful and animated judges will return to give their critiques, but only viewers' votes will count… America will truly decide the winner of the dance-off. [ABC's italics] Viewers are invited to weigh in with their votes via phones and the internet immediately following the broadcast on the 20th.

"And unlike the series, they won't have to wait a week to learn the results of their votes. This time, results will be announced during a separate telecast which will air on Thursday, Sept. 22."

You'll recall that there was an outcry when Monaco and her partner Alec Mazo won the "Dancing" competition (even the ABC press release calls the outcome "hotly debated").

Many viewers thought the routine of O'Hurley and his partner Charlotte Jorgensen was classier and more of a crowd-pleaser.

But the "Dancing" judges awarded Monaco and Mazo a perfect score of three 10s, and "Dancing" producer Conrad Green told the Tribune that fan voting also favored Monaco and Mazo.

If Monaco wins again, oy vey. I wouldn't want to be a phone operator at ABC.

Link to the above item.

August 15, 2005 2:31 PM CDT: Joss hearts Veronica

This rave, which was written by Joss Whedon ("Buffy," "Angel," "Firefly") and appeared late last week on Whedonesque.com, is so delicious that it's worth repeating in its entirety:

"My peeps and I just finished a crazed Veronica Marsathon, and I can no longer restrain myself. Best. Show. Ever. Seriously, I've never gotten more wrapped up in a show I wasn't making, and maybe even more than those. Crazy crisp dialogue. Incredibly tight plotting. Big emotion, I mean BIG, and charismatic actors and I was just DYING from the mystery and the relationships and PAIN, this show knows from pain and no, I don't care, laugh all you want, I had to share this. These guys know what they're doing on a level that intimidates me. It's the Harry Potter of shows. There. I said it. People should do whatever they can to check out this first season so the second won't be a spoiler fest. I'm nutty.

"I'm a little calmer now. Oh God, no I'm not! Wait. Wait. Okay. Some of you may already be all up on this, and some may disagree, but I'm urging peeps to check it out, 'cause there is great TV afoot, and who doesn't want that? Thank you for your time.

"Still not calm! Wait... wait..."

Oh golly. Joss Whedon, Harry Potter and "Veronica Mars" all in one place!

If he'd worked in a mention of "Battlestar Galactica," I think my head would have exploded.

IT'S JUST WRONG: Anyone else feel deeply icky about witnessing the segment of Saturday's "Big Brother" that centered on the, er, physical assets of Beau? I won't repeat the song that was sung after female contestants lined up to take a peek over the shower wall as Beau lathered up, but ... well, I thought the raunchy English version of "Big Brother" was the last word in TV-reality smut. Clearly our American-made copy is catching up.

Kaysar or no Kaysar, things like that ensure that I'm not helplessly addicted to every episode of the show. I'll quote "The Comeback's" Aunt Sassy here: "I don't need to see that!"

Or Howie's sideways baseball cap. Ever again. Yeesh.

HOUSE CALL: Colette Moran of Elmhurst e-mailed a question about "House": "Quick question -- what was the title of the episode of 'House' that you said was one of the best ever in TV history?"

It was the Emmy-nominated "Three Stories," and Fox re-airs it on Aug. 30. Do not miss it! It's the Harry Potter of doctor shows starring Hugh Laurie. Er, I mean, it's incredible. Watch it, I implore you.

Speaking of "House," it's pre-empted by the Teen Choice Awards Tuesday (curse you, Hilary Duff!), but Fox is airing two "Houses" each Tuesday after that. As I told Colette, watch a couple of episodes and you'll be as completely hooked as I am.

And can I just put myself down now as a slobberingly fanatical House-Cameron 'shipper?

(If you never followed "The X-Files" first few seasons or "Stargate SG-1's" Sam-and-Jack saga obsessively, 'shipper is short for "pro-relationship.")

LATE HOUSE UPDATE: So I get home Monday and there's an episode of "House" on my TiVo. Looks like Fox has dropped some scheduled Monday "Renovate My Family" episodes in favor of "House" repeats. Good call. In addition to the double "Houses" on Tuesdays (excluding Aug. 16), next Monday there will also be an episode at 8 p.m.

SWELL DEVELOPMENT: Reader Terry Ryan points out that WFLD-Ch. 32 is running repeats of "Arrested Development" every weekday evening at 11 p.m. I have no idea why, but it's a great idea.

That late-night airing is in addition to the Friday evening prime-time blocks that Fox has been devoting to the show, which continue through August.

So you really have no excuse not to check out this stellar comedy. Seriously.

SCI FI UPDATE: Another update on the Sci Fi Channel situation (last week Comcast dumped Sci Fi Channel from its basic-cable lineup in Chicago), this time from reader Debi Rajczyk of Schaumburg, who e-mailed me Friday:

"If Comcast thought most people wouldn't notice the change [in its basic-cable channel lineup], then why did I return home to a recorded message from Comcast informing me that Sci Fi was moving and suggesting I sign up for digital? I've never received that kind of notice before. There was also a note on my bill urging me [to] sign up for digital if I wanted to 'continue to enjoy my favorite Sci-Fi shows.' Clearly a strong-arm tactic by Comcast.

"As for [Comcast] not hearing any complaints [from customers]? Well, I complained with my pocketbook and canceled my Comcast cable. And, yes, I told them why. By the way, I'm continuing to enjoy my favorite Sci Fi shows with a service that has more features for less money."

Link to the above items.

August 12, 2005 2:59 PM CDT: WHEN TELEVISION ROCKS...

Rock 'n' roll has always had a testy relationship with television.

Sure, the Beatles' appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" was a cultural watershed, but then there was that 1982 "punk rock" episode of "Quincy, M.E.," in which fans of underground music were depicted as dangerous lunatics ("Why would you want to listen to music that makes you hate?" the dismayed medical examiner wondered after checking out the L.A. slam-dance scene).

Nobody understands rock's tangled relationship with TV better than Chicago writer Jake Austen, who examines the topic in depth in the engaging new book "TV-a-Go-Go: Rock on TV from American Bandstand to American Idol." "TV can't be as pure as going to a rock club or seeing a band in a basement or a garage," Austen says, but despite all those hitches between recording studio or club and TV screen, television has provided some of our most memorable musical moments.

Austen chatted recently about the most memorable televised moments in Chicago's musical history:

The debut of "Soul Train" in Chicago in 1970. "Of all the dance shows, it was the best ever. It was much better than [`American] Bandstand,'-" Austen says of the legendary show hosted by Don Cornelius, who launched a national version in 1971. "You had the energy of the kids' reception of the music, in addition to the energy of the performers themselves. You had a tangible feeling of why kids would be excited about this music. And if you watched `Bandstand' or local white dance shows, the dances kids were doing were usually dances that had developed in black communities. With `Soul Train,' you were seeing the primary source material."
News coverage of Disco Demolition, the infamous anti-disco riot that broke out between games of a White Sox-Detroit Tigers doubleheader at Comiskey Park on July 12, 1979. "Watching the evening news, I was slackjawed," Austen recalled. "There was so much chaos even before the [between-game melee]. People were just going wild."
A Chicago punk band, Verboten, appeared on a local kids' show called "Kidding Around" in the early '80s. "They were this hardcore band, but they looked like little kids," Austen notes. "They weren't famous, but it was a show about kids, and these kids happened to have a band, so they got invited to play. Eventually they morphed into Verbow, which was signed by a major label in the '90s."
In 1968, a local show called "The Swingin' Majority with Art Roberts" had the Jackson Five and the Ides of March on the same episode, well before either band had been noticed nationally. "All the Jackson Five had out was a local single called `Big Boy,' and Ides were a year away from having [their hit single] `Vehicle' out."
The kids' dance-party program "Kiddie-a-Go-Go," which ran from 1965 to '70 in Chicago, is one of Austen's favorite music shows. "Little kids don't know they're supposed to be cool," says Austen, who produces a latter-day homage called "Chic-a-go-go" on Chicago's cable-access channel. "There's just this wonderful energy and abandon to their dancing."
One big Chicago rock-on-TV miss, in Austen's opinion: Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins on the very last episode of the "Bozo" show. "It was really dreary."

...AND WHEN IT DOESN'T: Despite Chicagoan Marty Casey's stirring acoustic version of the Killers' "Mr. Brightside" on a recent episode, despite contestant Suzie McNeal's terrific take on "Losing My Religion" on the same show, despite host Brooke Burke's ever-shorter skirts, CBS' "Rock Star: INXS" is struggling in the ratings.

The show's Monday-night episode has been shipped to Sundays on VH1, and the show is now scheduled to wrap up Sept. 20, weeks earlier than originally planned.

So why isn't "Rock Star" pulling in "American Idol"-sized audiences? Here are a few theories:

Putting the show on three nights at first was at least one night too many.
Though the band is affable and has many hummable hits in its catalog, INXS is just not famous enough to draw tons of viewers.
As judges, INXS and co-host Dave Navarro are too forgiving and too complimentary too much of the time.
Everyone knows most of the songs on "Idol," whereas a good chunk of the "Rock Star" cover tunes appeal to a smaller slice of the public. And seeing those tunes sung by folks with Mohawks, tattoos and leather pants puts off some "Idol" worshippers.
It was a bad decision to have the three lowest vote-getters sing INXS' songs on the Wednesday elimination episodes. Wouldn't it make more sense to have the best singers belt out the band's tunes?
"To those [reasons], I'd add that one `Idol' per year is enough for us, and this doesn't even really try to be 'Idol' anyway," noted RealityBlurred.com's editor, Andy Dehnart, via e-mail. "I also think the target [demographic] of this show is decidedly older, whereas `Idol' skews younger, or at least attracts a wider range of viewers."

What are your thoughts on "Rock Star"? Love it? Hate it? Can't hum any INXS tunes? E-mail me if you have any thoughts to share.

Link to the above items.

NEWS YOU MAYBE CAN USE:

A word of advice to Adam Carolla, whose talk show, "It's Too Late With Adam Carolla," debuted on Comedy Central last week: Don't shout your monologue at the audience. Especially if it comes off as warmed-over, cliché-ridden stand-up material.

Paula Abdul will not appear on the Fox reality show "So You Think You Can Dance" after all, thanks to "scheduling conflicts." She has a packed schedule? Go figure. Surely her non-appearance has nothing to do with Fox's investigation of Corey Clark's allegations that he and Abdul had an affair when he appeared on "American Idol."

Some feedback on my review of Current TV from an e-mail correspondent who says he or she works at the new cable channel: "I'm about your age [39]. It feels like a dot-com. Lots of youngsters running around with cool haircuts out of 1972. Your article nailed it on the head. But I need a job, so I guess I'll stay there for a while. By the way, lots of ex-TechTV people [are working] there. Behind-the-scenes folks. And I really think [Current programming director] David Neuman is the force driving the look and feel. I give it a couple years, maybe even as long as [the now-defunct] TechTV!"
On my Christmas list: The new, not-yet-on-the-market-but-made-for-a-geek-like-me cell phones designed to look like communicators from "Star Trek."
HBO announced that the network will produce 20 episodes for the sixth season of "The Sopranos," instead of the originally scheduled 12. Reports say the sixth season may be split up and aired in two different chunks. Why not just call the second bunch of episodes the seventh season? So many cable channels split up seasons now; frankly, I just don't understand what constitutes a cable "season" anymore.
Lucy Lawless' appears on Sci Fi's "Battlestar Galactica" Sept. 9. "In the episode, `Final Cut,' Lucy plays a filmmaker sent to Galactica to document life aboard the ship. And for the first time ever, the actress uses her native New Zealand accent on film," according to Sci Fi.
Speaking of Sci Fi, reader LaRonika Thomas of Chicago sent me the following missive (it was one of dozens I got this week from readers upset about Comcast's decision to drop Sci Fi from its basic cable lineup): "When I called the 800-COMCAST line and got a person I was told that I needed to call Sci Fi to complain, because it was their decision to move and that RCN would also be moving Sci Fi to its digital service because Sci Fi wanted to be an all-digital service. Any knowledge if this is true?"

This is not true. A source at Sci Fi said the channel did not ask to be removed from any basic cable lineup. A Comcast spokeswoman said that what the customer service rep told Thomas was "misinformation."

Thanks much to the four kind readers who pointed out that CBS has always announced the cast of "Survivor" well before the premiere of each season. I don't know what prompted the brain seizure that caused me to state earlier this week that the network usually didn't announce "Survivor" casts ahead of time. I'm so grateful nobody used the phrase "you idiot" when they gently pointed out that I was egregiously wrong. I even remembered the next day that CBS does announce casts ahead of time. I must remember: Engage brain first, then blog.
But I'll risk one more thought on "Survivor": Thursday's cast announcement is interesting more for what it doesn't say than what it does say. The release announces the names of 16 castaways, but seems to be worded to imply that more developments -- and possibly people -- may turn up in Guatemala.
"America's Next Top Model" fans, do not miss this interview with ex-"Top Model" judge Janice Dickinson. It's a hoot.
A note from reader Howard Lapin of Ft. Wayne, Ind.: "Have the network muckety-mucks decided that we just don't get enough Boston? `Boston Commons,' `Boston Public,' now `Boston Legal.' And don't forget `Ally McBeal' was in Boston. Is Boston that much more interesting than, let's say, Philadelphia or (perish the thought) a town in the Midwest?

Link to the above items.

PROJECT BRAVO: "Project Greenlight" is not canceled.

Thank goodness, because I thought the most recent, third edition of the show, in which rookie director John Gulager made a horror flick called "Feast," was the best one yet.

Andrew Cohen, vice president of production for Bravo, confirmed that the show might come back, despite recent press comments from "Greenlight" producers Matt Damon and Chris Moore that intimated its future was in doubt.

"We're looking to see how another `Greenlight' would fit into our schedule," Cohen said. "We're also looking at how `Feast' is going to do [in its scheduled January release]. How that film does would impact another season of `Greenlight.'"

Personally, I'd take a "Project Gulager," a follow-up with the director of "Feast." (Bravo's doing something along those lines with "Project Jay," an upcoming special on "Project Runway" winner Jay McCarroll.) Cohen agrees that Gulager was a great find.

"He was kind of everyman thrown into this intense situation," Cohen said. "On the other hand, he's also this incredibly passionate, complex auteur who might not communicate well with the rest of world, but he certainly learned along the way." Cohen said. " It was fascinating to watch this guy evolve, and he really wore his emotions on his sleeve."

Speaking of "Project Runway," I had to know when that's coming back. Cohen would say only, "later this year."

One last question, Mr. Cohen: What's in the last couple of installments of "Being Bobby Brown"? (Bravo extended the run of its most recent reality hit by two episodes.) "Everyone's always wondering, `Why are they always at a hotel?'-" Cohen said. "In the second-to-last episode [which airs Thursday], we show the inside of their home. The last episode is sort of a greatest-hits show."

More from Andrew Cohen:

On how Daniel Franco, a contestant from the first "Project Runway," ended up on the show's second season of the show: "He just showed up at an audition in one of the cities where we held open auditions. He auditioned for the show again. We just thought, we'll give him another chance. If he's up for it, we're up for it."

On who else is back for "Runway": "Michael Kors is back, Heidi Klum is definitely back." (So's fashion guru Tim Gunn, by the way).

On the challenge of creating another "Project Runway" after the success of the first edition: "I would say `intimidating' is a good word [to describe it]. That's a show where the format is nailed. You know what the show is. The thing is, that show lives or dies by how creative and talented the people are. We had a lot of kooky people come in and audition who would have made for great TV, who I would have cast in a second. But we had Tim Gunn and Jay McCarroll and the representative from [New York fashion organization] Seventh on Sixth sitting in those casting sessions. I'd be saying, `Can we cast them?,' and they would say, `No, they don't have the talent.' I would look at them pleading - I was the guy from Bravo going, `Please let me put them on the show,' but they'd say no.

"They really are looking at samples and they're there to say, `I see something in this person that makes it possible that they could be America's next great designer.' You can't just go through the process trying to cast the show [in predetermined roles]. You can't say, `That's our Wendy Pepper, that's our diva, that's so-and-so.' You'd just get burned."

On Bravo's "Battle of the Network Reality Stars," which starts Wednesday: So was Omarosa, a sideline interviewer for "Battle," a naughty girl? "No, she was great. Honest. She was a broadcast journalist before this, so she says.

"But there were some serious rivalries. Some existed before they got here; others happened while they were competing. They were all really competitive. Ryan Starr [from `American Idol'] and Charla [Faddoul from `The Amazing Race 5'] are not the best of friends. "There are some fun cameos coming up. Jimmie Walker [from `Good Times' and a participant in the '70s version of `Battle of the Network Stars'] is going to be on. We wanted to be really true to the original, we had the original company [that owns the rights to the `Battle' franchise] do this version, and we had it at Pepperdine University, like the original. We have one event per episode that's exactly the event they did in the '70s.

"Nobody was a diva. I couldn't believe how patient they were. They're used to sitting around waiting for the reality hosts [to do their lines over and over]. They're all incredibly flexible with any time constraints. We'd say, `We need to finish setting up the pool, can you go sit in your locker room for two hours?,' and they were fine with it. From Richard Hatch to Coral [from `The Real World'], they all know how TV production works. They're savvy."

Link to the above item.

August 9, 2005 2:46 CDT: Jennings to get TV tribute

Peter Jennings, who passed away Sunday, will be the subject of a two-hour ABC retrospective at 7 p.m. Wednesday on WLS-Ch. 7.

The classy news anchor's career as a foreign correspondent, domestic reporter and longtime lynchpin of "World News Tonight" will be examined in the ABC News special, which is called "Peter Jennings: Reporter." Colleagues such as Ted Koppel, Diane Sawyer, Charles Gibson, Elizabeth Vargas and Barbara Walters also will recall their memories of Jennings.

COMCAST FALLOUT: Some readers have written to let me know that they had trouble getting a person at that 800-COMCAST number I gave out in this story. Over the weekend, I received more than a dozen complaints about that and about Comcast's removal of Sci Fi Channel from its basic cable package. I understand your frustration with the phone number, but that number is the only one Comcast would give me after several requests.

Regarding the Comcast/Sci Fi situation, Cece Forrester, a Comcast subscriber in Chicago, sent a typical missive:

"That PR person at Comcast is either lying to you, or her management is keeping her out of the loop. I daresay the volume of complaints has been impossible to ignore, even as of last week. People won't pay attention to the change? She may wish, because it's certainly a PR disaster. ...

"I had called the local customer service line as soon as I got the notice in the mail and figured out what was going on, telling them they are already charging me way too much money and I am not interested in paying even more as an alternative to getting less. Then the following week they called me, with a recording reminding me about the Sci Fi change and telling me to get digital. I called customer service again and made it clear that I was thisclose to terminating my relationship with them because I do not accept phone solicitations, even from companies I have a relationship with.

"I reiterated that because of their aggressive attempts to force me to upgrade, I absolutely refuse to do so. In the hope I can make other arrangements to continue receiving Sci Fi, I have been in contact with RCN to request a proposal, and they are supposed to get back to me. ...

"Meanwhile, Comcast is running a crawl on the Weather Channel about the Sci Fi switch, stating in part 'A subcription [sic] ... and a digital converter are necessary.'

"Yes, of course they are trying to force people to get digital! And while Comcast may not actually hate us, it's become clear that they inherited from their inept predecessors a fundamental disrespect for the customer. Not only do I hope this move backfires on them big-time, I suspect it actually will."

DIGITAL DUSTUPS: What does Robert Novak's abrupt departure from the set of CNN's "Inside Politics" last week have in common with Jon Stewart's verbal smackdown of Tucker Carlson on "Crossfire" last year?

It's not just that both incidents involved naughty words, or that they both happened on CNN.

Both were no doubt watched more in cyberspace after the fact than watched in real time on TV.

GETTING REAL: A CBS press release today hyped the fact that the cast of the next edition of "Survivor" will be announced on "The Early Show" on Thursday morning.

That's weird. Except in the cast of "Survivor: All Stars," don't we usually have to wait for the premiere of a new season to meet cast members of the show?

Maybe I'm wrong about that. E-mail me if you can recall any other instances of "Survivor" contestants being announced before the premiere date (which, by the way, is Sept. 15).

Perhaps the announcement has to do with the rampant online rumors about some semi-famous folks appearing in the upcoming edition of the reality show, which is set this fall in Guatemala.

Link to the above items.

August 5, 2005 2:08 PM CDT: Miss your Sci Fi fix? Call Comcast

As of Aug. 10, Chicago-area Comcast customers will no longer receive the Sci Fi Channel if they subscribe to the company's basic-cable package. They'll have to upgrade to Comcast's more expensive digital package to get the channel's offerings.

That move comes just a few weeks after the channel's most notable original series, including the highly rated and critically acclaimed "Battlestar Galactica," launched new seasons.

When I spoke to a Comcast PR representative last week, she said she had not heard about any complaints regarding the Sci Fi situation. "I think a lot of people won't even pay attention to the change," Comcast's Pat Keenan told me.

Well, there's an active SciFi.com message board on the topic, and I've gotten several letters and phone calls about it.

Chicago resident Byron Scott's letter was typical: "Do you know what Comcast is doing in the city? They are moving the Sci Fi Channel to digital and replacing it with the Golf Channel! Come on! Really -- what has the broader viewership? Are they trying to force people to get digital? Or do they just hate their customers? I just hope RCN [cable] is [available] in my building."

Comcast provided a number that customers can call if they care to make their thoughts about the Sci Fi move known: it's 800-COMCAST. E-mails can be sent via the Contact Us page on the Comcast Web site: www.comcast.com.

Link to the above item.

NEWS YOU CAN DEFINITELY USE:

After two stellar turns on "Deadwood," Garret Dillahunt is going to be more divine than ever. Dillahunt, who played the killer of Wild Bill Hickok in Season 1 of "Deadwood" and a dapper serial killer of prostitutes in Season 2, will turn up this season on NBC's "The Book of Daniel." On the buzzed-about midseason show, Aidan Quinn is a stressed-out reverend who gets visits from Jesus, who'll be played by Dillahunt. By the way, you can check out the actor in the current season of "The 4400," where he shines as slick PR operative Matthew Ross.

A major cast member is leaving "CSI: New York": www.csifiles.com has the details.
Director Kevin Smith, a major fan of The N's "Degrassi: The Next Generation," will appear on the show's three-part season finale, which begins on Friday. According to a press release from The N, "In the `Degrassi' season finale, Smith travels to Canada to film a fictional sequel to the cult-hit `Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.' For the `sequel' titled, `Jay and Silent Bob Go Canadian, Eh!,' Smith has chosen Degrassi as the perfect Canadian high school for the shoot. … Smith said, `The plot of the movie within the show is so funny, it almost makes me want to shoot the flick for real.'" Oh, and Alanis Morissette appears on "Degrassi," which is on The N at 7 p.m. Fridays, on Aug. 19 as a school principal.
Ricky Gervais, creator of the original British version of "The Office," is writing and guesting on an upcoming episode of "The Simpsons" that'll air in March. He'll reprise his "Office" character, David Brent, who'll do an episode of "Wife Swap" with Homer Simpson. Gervais' new series, "Extras," premieres on HBO on Sept. 25.
Thanks to middling ratings, the Monday version of "Rock Star" moves over to VH1 this week. By the way, who else picks Jordis to win?
Maybe I'm completely wrong (I often am), but I can't imagine that many Howard Stern fans will pay to watch the guy on TV. Last week Stern announced a deal with the In Demand Network that will allow people to subscribe, through various cable providers, to a TV version of his radio show. Watching Stern do his radio show on E! was one thing, but will people really pay $10 a month to see a TV version of his new Sirius satellite radio show (which costs yet another monthly fee)? I dunno. Then again, Stern fans are pretty devoted.
Reader Michelle Candocia of Vernon Hills had this thought to share on "The Muppets Wizard of Oz," which comes out on DVD on Tuesday: "I know this seems goofy, but I would like you to warn parents about the upcoming release of `The Muppets Wizard of Oz' on DVD. I saw this [movie] on ABC and was really disturbed that this was aimed at kids. At one point in the movie, the prawn (a Toto fill-in) shrieks in horror after touching Gonzo's metallic nipples [and says,] `Oh, I feel so dirty.' There is another scene where a chicken turns into a buxom seductress towards Gonzo. … It's bad enough to watch Miss Piggy in a motorcycle gang, but the real horror is toward the end when … Dorothy is strapped to a table with a buzz saw about to cut her up. This occurs as one of the witch's henchmaen is filming the execution about to take place. I know the Muppets have always liked to throw in a little adult humor -- but this one really crossed the lines of decency. How did Michael Eisner ever let this one get aired? We ceratinly certainly are not in Kansas anymore. Please warn parents or grandparents that may not have seen it - it's not your innocent `Wizard of Oz.'-"

Link to the above items.

THE MALLPISODE: What was that commotion in the middle of Woodfield Mall on July 30? The music and screaming and lines of people were related to a Teen People magazine promotional event; the guests of honor were "Everwood" stars Sarah Drew, who plays Hannah Rogers on the WB drama, and Vivien Cardone, who plays Delia Brown.

Before the fans lined up to get their autographs, Drew and Cardone chatted about what's happening this fall on the Colorado-set drama, which is heading into its fourth season. Cardone, for her part, is glad that Delia's tomboy phase is over and that her character is getting "more girly. Hallelujah," Cardone said. "I hated the baseball caps!"

Drew, who joined the drama last season, says the budding romance between her character and Bright Abbott (Chris Pratt) will come to the fore this year.

"The Hannah-Bright love story is going to be huge this season," says Drew, who studied drama at the University of Virginia. "He gets a new roommate, - Bright moves in with a guy named Reed. He's a really good-looking guy - the girls will like this character. But I think it's going to add an interesting dynamic."

Bright and Hannah's very obvious differences will also add intrigue to "Everwood," which returns on a new night -- Thursdays -- on Sept. 27.

"They are very different people," Drew noted. "You're going to begin to see that. There's a cute little reunion scene in the first episode, but then in the second episode, they start sort of going on dates, and old Bright starts to come out in all sorts of bad ways, and Hannah's like, 'What is going on?' So there will be some really strange adjustments that'll happen. Plus she's made a vow that she will not have sex until she's married; that's going to cause some trauma."

More from Sarah Drew:

[Getting cast in "Everwood" was] totally thrilling for me. I'd never done a TV series before at all so I had no idea what to expect. But they were so welcoming. They're the most wonderful group of people. So many times we look at each other and say we're so glad we're in Utah and not in L.A. because we just don't get wrapped up in the Hollywood stuff that a lot of the other TV shows do. We live in nature, we go skiing and mountain biking. We've got yards [laughs]. So we get to concentrate on our work.

I wasn't even auditioning for "Everwood." I was auditioning for a completely different show on the WB. They said, "Can you take these sides [i.e. script pages] and read [for 'Everwood']." So I did, and I was cast off that tape. As soon as I saw the sides I said, "I know this person, I get this person, I was this person." I'm a lot more outspoken than Hannah was in the beginning, but she's sort of blossoming and becoming a lot stronger internally. Definitely the beginning of last season, there are certain aspects that I totally resonate with. She's got a spiritual life that's really important to her, that's also a big part of my life.

She's smart, and she works very hard, and she journals, and I do all of that. I was close to the top of my class in high school and worked really, really hard and didn't really have time for boys, and the hot guys were never interested in me. I was too busy doing other things. So I think I was able to relate to her and bring a vulnerability to her that is one of my strengths.

[On Hannah as a role model for "regular girls"] I think that's what makes her so relatable, because most girls in the U.S. are like that. They're not beauty queens. There's a small percentage who actually look like Mischa Barton;, most girls look like Hannah, or even more awkward. I think people really resonate with the character because they get her. "Oh, I can actually get the really cool guy with my heart, and he likes my heart, and I don't have to look sexy all the time and wear a ton of makeup." If I were in high school watching this show, that's the one character on TV I would relate to.

And she has heartache too - the first time she tries to kiss Bright, early on last season, and he totally rejects her, it's crushing. It hurts a lot. And so many people have gone through that.

I'm thrilled to be part of the show so the world can see what Chris Pratt can do. There are some beautiful, subtle things that have been going on with his character that have really started to come out because of Hannah. And I love that my presence on the show has allowed that to happen for him because he's so gifted and it's so fun for him to just have [meaty] stuff to work on.

[On the realistic nature of "Everwood"] My mother's mother has just been diagnosed with cancer. It's kind of crazy, - several of our cast members' parents were diagnosed with cancer right around the time that the Rose Abbott cancer story came out, and my mother actually goes back and watches those episodes now, to allow herself to grieve. She watches it and goes, "This is exactly what I'm going through;, they got it exactly right." And I think they handle so many situations like that so beautifully. You see all the different sides. It's never told from just one side.

[On feedback to her character] I've gotten a lot of letters, some are from guys. … I like the ones I get from girls a lot better [laughs]. They're very specific about what they like about Hannah and about the story lines. I got one from a girl who went on in detail about the scene where I tell everyone my dad's got Huntington's [disease, which Hannah's father has], how much she liked that episode.

And on some of the message boards too, there have been some really interesting things too, you know, [people saying,] "When I grew up I was awkward and shy and no guys liked me, and I just want to say that I have this character to show those things and allow you to feel those things because it's realistic and you don't see that on TV very often." I had kind of a hard time [in school]. Middle school and elementary school were hell for me. [High school was better]. My mom talked to another mom of a classmate;, she said, "What does Sarah have to do to make friends?" and the other mom said, "She has to do bad things or at least say that she's doing bad things." My response was, "I don't want to compromise my morals for that., I don't care if I don't have friends." From an early age, I was like, "I don't care if people don't like me." I mean, it hurts like hell, but I'd much rather grow as a person and be a stronger person in the long run.

[On "Everwood's lack of Emmy recognition] I haven't been there from the beginning, and you tend to get Emmys at the beginning, so by now everyone is sort of resigned to that fact. It would be wonderful to get recognition, because I think this is one of the best shows on TV. It's so real and honest and makes you think and makes you talk. …

I think the fact that we don't get the recognition is [because] we're not about pulling out cheap tricks and being scandalous. We're not willing to sell out to win an Emmy. We still have a fan base that is affected by our show every week. That's enough for me.

[On reading "Everwood" message boards] I did my fair share of reading message boards last year, and I've kind of decided not to do it any more, because sometimes its detrimental. There's no point, really. I think even praise can be detrimental because then you depend on it and feel like your identity is based on it. It's healthier to be in a place where you can do your job, love your job, love the people you're working with and then go home at the end of the day and not worry about those things. We've got producers who read those [message boards] and they do respond to them and sometimes they incorporate what the audience is saying.

[On future story lines for Hannah] I've definitely done my fair share of fantasizing about my story line, I'm not going to lie [laughs]. But every time I get a new script, I'm magically surprised and I love it. I really trust what [the writers] are doing. I think it'd be really cool to meet her family. If her father actually did pass away this year, and dealing with that grief. I love the fact that I get to have a romantic story line this year, but I also love really deep, meaty drama. I think we're going to meet my mom this year.

[On her famous cousin, Benjamin McKenzie, who plays Ryan Atwood on "The O.C."] We were [at the University of Virginia] at the same time and had classes together and did plays together. He's actually my second cousin. We share one family of first cousins. We call each other cousins anyway. We're good friends.

He's very smart. And I wish he had more opportunity to show that on the show he's on. But it's a huge hit, so there you go.

I don't deal with fame to the degree at all that he does. First of all, nobody ever recognizes me in real life. I look very different on the show than I do in real life. I was doing a WB promotional shoot last weekend, and so they glammed me up, and Greg Smith [who plays Ephram on "Everwood"] walked up to me and looked me in the eye, and had no idea who I was. And I was like, "Hello, I work with you!"

But that's happened on the red carpet too. Last February, I was on the red carpet with four other cast members, arm in arm we were going from TV interview to TV interview. At one point, this one woman interviewed the rest of them and ignored me completely. And she says to Chris, "So I hear something is going on between you and Amy's new best friend." And Chris was like, "Do you realize she is standing right there?"

Ben, of course, gets recognized everywhere. He's not the most thrilled about it. It's not his favorite thing in the world. He's not into the fame thing. He's long since realized clubs are empty and stupid and meaningless. He just bought a house in the Hollywood hHills, and he's like, "Now I can have friends over, and we can talk, and it's not a stupid club scene."

So he and Mischa [Barton, who is a regular on the L.A. club scene] don't hang out. Not so much [laughs].

[With the success of "The O.C."], he went from sleeping on a friend's floor to buying a cool car and being set for life. But it's pretty shocking in a big way, because it happened overnight. In some ways, he says, "I'd kind of rather not be as famous and get to do the kind of work that you get to do." But whatever, it gives him an opportunity to get out there and do other cool stuff.

Link to the above item.

NOT JUST BEACHY: I just don't get it. Why do so many people watch "Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County"? The July 25 second-season premiere of the show got stellar ratings for MTV, for reasons that completely evade me. Reports, revived last week by Gawker.com, have circulated for ages that the show is heavily scripted and staged, but my goodness, if they're going to script the dang thing, I wish they'd script it a lot better!

Here's some typical dialogue between rich girl Kristin and the show's resident hunk, Stephen:

Kristin: "Cheer up."

Stephen: "Why `cheer up'? I'm fine. You cheer up."

Kristin: "I'm fine. You're being weird."

Stephen: "I'm not being weird."

Kristin: "What the [heck's] your problem? Are you still mad at me?"

Stephen: "Dude. [Unintelligible.] Am I supposed to be really happy to see you or something?"

Kristin: "No, that's not what I'm saying."

Stephen: "Dude, I'm good."

Makes you want to turn off the TV (possibly forever) and curl up with a Jane Austen novel, doesn't it?

Link to the above item.

CAMPAIGN WINNER: Obsessive detective Adrian Monk lovingly washing his doorknobs in a pristine dishwasher.

Psychic Johnny Smith touching a cat and seeing the furry critter's nine lives -- and deaths -- pass before his eyes.

A clairvoyant little girl, walking through a maternity -ward waiting room and declaring "boy, girl, girl, boy, girl," as she passes a row of expectant mothers.

All are scenes from USA Network's charming new "Characters Welcome" advertising campaign, which effectively unites the cable channel's varied offerings -- which include everything from "Nashville Star" to the U.S. Open tennis tournament to the detective show "Monk" to genre dramas "The 4400" and "The Dead Zone" -- under one clever banner.

Chris McCumber, senior vice president of USA's marketing and brand strategy, said that though the campaign created a lot of buzz, it also had some unforeseen side effects. "That [cat spot] immediately created a debate between cat lovers and dog lovers. Non-cat lovers love the spot," McCumber notes.

The "Characters Welcome" campaign came about when network executives decided they wanted to make it a more recognizable cable destination in the ever-expanding cable universe.

"In our research, we're finding that the more choices people have, the fewer things they actually come back to," McCumber said. "In a 100-channel universe, they come back to about eight or 10 channels. That really helps you when you launch new original programming - if you have an expectation of what USA is about, you might be more apt to check it out."

As for picking the phrase "characters welcome," McCumber said it was an easy choice. "Part of it is gut, part of it is art," McCumber said.

"When we first heard that [phrase] back in January, we all suddenly said, `Yes, that's it.' It felt right. It's a simple idea, and you don't want to come up with something that's too inside, that's too complex. People have so many choices, you don't want to make things harder for them. And [in consumer research], people were giving us credit for having fun, wonderful, energetic characters."

The idea behind the commercial spots, which were created by a Minneapolis ad firm called mono, was to give people a glimpse into the everyday lives of characters on the network's leading shows. "If you fall in love with characters, you want to spend a little more time with them," McCumber said, and if you don't know Monk and "The Dead Zone's" Smith and little Maia from "The 4400," "the spots might lead viewers to check them out."

The redesigned USA Web site, usanetwork.com, is asking viewers to send in video clips and photos in a part of the campaign called "Show Us Your Character," and those submissions will be the cornerstone of the next phase of USA's campaign, which launches early next year.

Link to the above item.

August 2, 2005 12:41 PM CDT: Current non-event: Al Gore's new network is TV by people who don't 'get' TV

Ever have a teacher who tried way too hard to be "down" with the kids? Who never knew that he was using out-of-date lingo or patronizing the intelligence of the people he wanted to befriend?

If you have a masochistic desire to spend hours with that kind of person, you could always tune into Current TV, a new cable channel that debuted in 20 million homes nationwide on Monday. (In Chicago, Current is available on DirecTV and Comcast digital cable at present).

Current, as the channel's hosts and promotional spots tell you every few minutes, is "revolutionary." Viewer submissions are solicited on the channel's Web site, and allegedly the content will be driven by what Web surfers decide they want to see.

Promising "subjects that young adults can rarely find on TV" in one's press kit is foolhardy; advertising that the channel "will blow your mind," as one on-air host does, is downright lunacy.

All the new-media spiel that chairman Al Gore and other Current hype-meisters have been spinning of late sounds like some fairy tale from the dot-com boom. Given the hyperbolic pronouncements about how it would change the face of television and the Internet and the culture, blah blah blah, Current's first 36 hours were particularly disappointing.

There wasn't a whole lot of viewer-created content on the channel on Monday and through midday Tuesday (and Current's Web site appeared to be having difficulties posting the majority of viewer submissions), but it's interesting to examine the professionally produced segments that Current did choose to air in these early hours of its existence.

For a channel that is supposed to be aimed squarely at 18 to 34 year olds and reflect their views and concerns, Current's remarkably clueless and elitist. And a fair amount of the content could be found just about anywhere else.

We meet a couple of newlyweds who drive a Lexus and fight over whether to get a $1,200 icemaker (the expensive ones, you see, make clear ice, not cloudy ice). Young couples in New York City -- news flash! -- find the real-estate market daunting. We meet a couple who's just had a baby. Baby poop is, apparently, very smelly.

Thanks, Current, for blowing my mind.

A sober report on the high rate of suicide in Japan was well done -- but did we need two different stories on the topic? There were good stories on rebellious youth in Iran and a man who works with teens in California's prison system -- but both left me wanting more.

Though the channel is committed to keeping segments to less than seven minutes, some of us in the MTV generation actually have longer attention spans -- if the subject matter and presentation warrant it.

Being current is one thing; presenting stories in context is another. It's a very old-school media point of view, but the channel would be better with more of the latter.

Take, for example, the two different segments on "street artist" Shepard Fairey, who made his name in the late '80s and '90s by postering cities around the country with images of wrestler Andre the Giant superimposed over the word "obey."

"Why should [public spaces] only be reserved for advertising?" he asks.

In light of that statement, it'd be interesting to note that Fairey, who started his "obey" campaign in 1989, is now a well-paid consultant for consumer marketing firms trying to sell soft drinks and the like to young folks. Not that Current mentions that.

And it's never mentioned that on-air personality Gotham Chopra is the son of self-help author Deepak Chopra -- who appears on Current giving rambling career advice. That new father appearing in the parenting segment? He's Evan Stone, the channel's executive director (which is not mentioned in the story).

But I guess that's the cranky old journalist in me (at 39, I'm well out of Current's target demographic) -- I think giving viewers that contextual information is important.

The on-air hosts (I strongly resist the notion of calling them "talent") could present this kind of information in the remarks they make before and after each segment, but groan-inducing patter more suited to a Friars roast or to a college dorm room circa 1995 is more their thing. Mumble-mouth host Max Lugavere introduces the New York real-estate segment by talking about how "cashola" is one of "life's great mysteries," though the returns on buying a house can be "awesome."

A segment on upmarket mobile homes -- in which the young architect mentions that she's already been profiled in Dwell and sports Chanel shades -- ends with host Amaya Brecher, a veteran of "The Real World: Hawaii," saying it "almost [made] me want to plunk down some change on a vacant lot by the highway." (Similarly, after an earnest segment on a young female Baptist preacher, Brecher said it "almost [made] me want to go to temple -- almost").

After a rather pointless story on a "sneaker pimp," or gym-shoe aficionado, host Shauntay Hinton mused, "I wonder, when his shoes get dirty, does he slap them like a real pimp would do to his own employees?"

Such casual condescension and witless arrogance is all over Current -- that, not the content, is what blew my mind.

The "Google Current" segments -- momentary blips in which viewers are treated to the most popular Google searches including a given word, such as "fight," are just that -- blips. In the first day and a half, the Google snippets didn't appear to be updated all that often -- the same lists appeared again and again. One would get a better sense of what folks on the Web are talking about right now by going to blogdex.net, technorati.com or metafilter.com.

As of Tuesday, according to the Associated Press, 1,800 men and women -- many of them in Current's target demographic -- have died in Iraq. Young people today face a tough job market, an increasingly security-conscious world and a mind-boggling array of social pressures and life choices.

So how does Current capture the zeitgeist of this generation? It runs a segment about a Current employee whose name and phone number was on Paris Hilton's famously hacked Sidekick. ("Never mind how I attained the dubious dishonor of appearing in [her] cell phone in the first place," Justin Gunn breezily says. Uh, dude, then what is the point of this story?)

There are also "Current Hottie" pieces on a male model for the Abercrombie and Fitch catalogue and an African-American woman whose naked behind appears on a billboard for a jeans company.

"What's nice about Current Hottie is that you can exalt and explore the qualities of perseverance and hard work," says host Jason Silva. "Who are we kidding? You get to check out a serious rack."

You may not want to read any more about Current after reading a comment like that. I certainly didn't want to watch any more.

The stats on Current:

Debut: Aug. 1, 2005

What is it? A new cable channel consisting of rotating 3- to 7-minute "pods" on news, lifestyle and whatever.

Bigwigs: Former presidential candidate Al Gore and entrepreneur Joel Hyatt.

Web site: Current.tv, which accepts viewer submissions.

Where it is: On DirecTV's "Total Choice" package and certain Time Warner and Comcast systems.

Set: An "authorized replication of John Lautner's famous `Chemosphere' home."

Hosts: "Real World" vet Amaya Brecher, Justin Gunn of "Inside Edition" and MTV's "Like We Care," Gotham Chopra (son of Deepak), "According to Jim" guest actress Kinga Philipps.

Most unintelligible on-air statement: "Current is a bridge between the power of a generation and a mass outlet for its voice." Thank you, Gotham Chopra.

First on-air segment: About a guy who jumps off cliffs for fun (with a parachute, but still…).

Number of times each segment is repeated each day: Approximately 44,000.

Sponsors: Sony, L'Oreal are "charter sponsors," the channel also has ads from PeoplePC, DeVry, Converse, Priceline and the bands Hot Hot Heat and Flipsyde.

Number of stories on suicide in Japan: Two

Number of stories on people with hot butts: Two

Most random story: An old CBS tape on the shooting of Ronald Reagan in 1981, shown as a "Current Flashback."

Dopiest statement: "Our Current Hottie is sex on toast, and I think any red-blooded girl would want to take a bite." Thank you, Amaya Brecher.

Most inexplicable segment: One mentioning the DVD releases of "The Cosby Show," "The Dukes of Hazzard" and "The X-Files." This is news?

Timing of first self-congratulatory martinis: One hour into first day of broadcast.

Poster child for network: Female Baptist preacher Rev. Jamie Washam, whose segment aired dozens of times in the first two days.

Most clueless statement in press kit: "Until now, the notion of viewer participation has been limited to sending a tape to `America's Funniest Home Videos,' calling an interview show, taking part in an instant poll or voting someone off an island," Al Gore states. Uh, Al, viewers don't participate in voting anyone off "Survivor."

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