Two Tivos To Paradise 8.08.08: TV News Knows No Dog Days

Posted by Al Norton on 08.08.2008

Christina Applegate's health crisis, Laurence Fishburne may join the cast of CSI, Battlestar Galactica gets supersized, American Idol will have a new producer calling the shots, a run down of the fall season's biggest cast additions, Thomas Jane gets the lead in an HBO series, raves for Flipping Out, tons of news and notes, the TV Pick of the Week and more! It's all in this week's Two Tivos To Paradise!

Hello Friends. The countdown to the end of the world as we (we being Mrs. Tivo and myself) know it is on, and we dropped more money than I've ever spent at a store before at BabiesRUs last weekend. Ok, more money than I'd ever spent at a store when not buying a TV, but you get my point! Got to spend some quality time with my brother while seeing Jason Bay hit his first homerun in a Sox uniform last Saturday night at Fenway, and then followed that up with my god daughter's fifth birthday party. Why do I mention these things? Because it's my cold open!

In other news, Will Dailey, the official singer/songwriter of Two Tivos To Paradise, has been added to the bill at FarmAid, giving me yet another reason to hope that the twins will allow me to attend.

I saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic's, and his news was perfect.

Everybody, Everybody Knows That You're The Finest Thing In Town
A spokesperson for Christina Applegate revealed that the Emmy nominated star of Samantha Who? was recently diagnosed with an early form of breast cancer. "Benefiting from early detection through a Doctor ordered MRI, the cancer is not life threatening. Christina is following the recommended treatment of her Doctors and will have a full recovery." The 36 year old Applegate, who's Mom is a breast cancer survivor, is expected to begin treatment shortly, and so far there is expected to be no delays in the production of her sitcom.

Applegate, who lost her boyfriend to a drug overdose a few months back, had just been announced as a participant in the September 5th multi-network fundraiser Step Up To Cancer, which will occur a week before The Emmys, where she is nominated as Best Lead Actress in a Comedy. It goes without saying that Hollywood is pulling for her and hopefully her catching this so early will lead others, especially those with a family history of cancer, to start getting screened.

I Cruise From Houston To Canal Street, A Misfit And A Rebel
HBO is moving forward on Hung, a dark comedy pilot written by Dimitry Lipkin (creator of The Riches) and Colette Burson, and this week cast Thomas Jane as the series lead, a well endowed high school gym basketball coach who realizes that using his gift of size is the key to his success in life. Jane is best known for his role as Mickey Mantle in HBO's 61 as well as playing the title role in the movie adaptation of the popular comic book The Punisher. The network is very high on the project and has lined up Oscar winner Alexander Payne (Sideways, About Schmidt, Election) to direct the pilot.

A TV show about a middle aged guy who uses his huge equipment to get ahead in life? Was someone sitting in on my interview here at 411mania? Not much of a shock that I am already excited for this show as it's co-created by the person that gave us a show that I have on my list of the five best dramas on TV, is directed by a guy with a proven track record, and is starring someone who I have always thought should be a bigger star than he is. Jane was phenomenal in 61, and I know a few women who loved him in The Sweetest Thing, but most of his work has been at the level of the project he was working on, and lately that's been pretty mediocre, so let's hope he rises to the occasion here. Sorry, couldn't resist.

No One's Gloomy Or Complaining While The Flatware's Entertaining
Two returning shows got big cast additions this week, with Stephen Root getting a four episode arc on Pushing Daisies and Robert Forrester signing on for several appearances on Heroes. Root, best known for his big screen role in Office Space and his small screen portrayal of Jimmy James on News Radio, will play someone with a connection to both Ned and Chuck's Fathers. Forrester, nominated for an Academy Award for Jackie Brown, is playing the Petrelli family patriarch, although it's not clear if he will be playing him in flashbacks, time travel scenarios, or if he isn't as dead as had been thought. It was also announced that British soul singer Joss Stone would make her major acting debut as a regular during the third season of Showtime's The Tudors. Speaking of The Tudors, the always impressive Max Von Sydow was the latest to join their huge cast, agreeing to appear in 4 episodes.

The biggest casting story of the week has Academy Award nominee Laurence Fishburne in heavy negotiations with CBS to join the cast of CSI. Nothing is confirmed yet but his character would fill the void created by William Peterson's departure, although he would not be the new team leader. Fishburne, Kurt Russell, and John Malkovitch were the names floating around during the recent TCA presentations, and it looks like a deal with the What's Love Got To Do With It and Matrix series star is imminent.

Both Root and Forrester qualify as major Two Tivos favorites, with the ladder's performance as bail bondsman Max Cherry in Jackie Brown on my short list of movie roles that blew me away. Root is practically a chameleon, finding authenticity in roles as diverse as Office Space's Milton to a Republican campaign strategist on The West Wing, and should have no problem holding his own with the distinct cadence that is Pushing Daisies dialogue.

This news of guest stars inspired me to put together a list of 15 most noteworthy cast additions, the biggest names joining returning favorites during the 2008-2009 TV season (for the purposes of this list, I am only including those appearing in at least 4 episodes). In no particular order:

Jimmy Smits – Dexter
Donal Logue – Life
Neal McDonough – Desperate Housewives
Lindsay Lohan – Ugly Betty
Michael Rappaport – Prison Break
Katee Sackhoff – Nip/Tuck
Adhir Kaylan – Nip/Tuck
Michael Weston – House
Shirley Manson – Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Michael J Fox – Rescue Me
Jon Voigt – 24
Jeff Goldblum – Law and Order: Criminal Intent
Sophina Brown – Numb3rs
Mary Tyler Moore – Lipstick Jungle
Michaela McManus – Law And Order: Special Victims Unit

When You Close Your Eyes And You Go To Sleep, And It's Down To The Sound Of A Heartbeat
Christopher McQuarrie (Usual Suspects) and Eric Jendrenson (Band of Brothers) were hired by producer Tony Krantz to write a pilot for AMC that would adapt the 1974 Oscar nominated film The Conversation to the small screen. Set in the early 70's, the series would follow lead character Harry Caul, a private eye who uses listening devices and surveillance equipment to solve his cases. This is not the first time Krants has tried to adapt the film; there was a pilot starring Kyle McLaughlin in 1995 that NBC ultimately passed on and the three were in production with ABC two years ago before that version died out. No word yet on if Francis Ford Coppola, the film's producer and director, will have any role in the series.

The Conversation is a phenomenally underrated movie featuring an incredible performance by Gene Hackman as well as a very early turn by Harrison Ford, and I can see how this could fit into AMC's current slate of period pieces and dark dramas. Krantz has executive producing credits from 24 and Sports Night on his resume, showing talents for both tense action as well as great inter-personal material, and the screenplays the writers have been a part of in the past have me really looking forward to seeing what they come up with. Is David Morse too old to play Harry Caul? I think this is the part of the column where I suggest Dean Winters for the part.

You've Really Made The Grade And The Papers Want To Know Who's Shirts You Wear
Multiple bits of Battlestar Galactica related news this week, starting with executive producer David Eick confirming that many of the final 10 episodes of the series, which debut in January of 2009, will be supersized, ranging from an extra 15 minutes to full hours of additional material. It was also confirmed that a second stand alone movie (like last fall's Razor) would begin production shortly and air in 2009 after the series finale. Written by Jane Espenson and directed by Edward James Olmos, it will star Michael Trucco (Anders), Aaron Douglas (Tyrol), and Dean Stockwell (Cavil). While it will take place before the events of the mini-series that launched the show, it should not be confused with Caprica, the planned prequel that Sci Fi is working on as a movie/series.

The only down side to all of the above is I will have to wait until 2009 to get my next BSG fix! I also am happy to see Aaron Douglas as one of the leads since the Chief is one of my favorite characters from the BSG universe and I think he's actor who I think can handle both drama and comedy (his "at least we'll find out who the 5th one is" was one of my favorite – and funniest – lines from this past season). There is plenty of time for those of you who have not yet joined the cult to rent/buy the DVD's of the previous seasons and be fully caught up when the final 10 episodes start in January. I can honestly say I know no one who has given the show a shot who hasn't enjoyed it. I am not saying everyone loves it as much as Darth Mortis and I do, but I really think any/everyone who can get beyond any pre-conceived negative science fiction connotations will recognize its quality.

How do I go through that whole story without once using the word frak?!?!?

But You Were Up To Your Old Tricks In Chapters Four Five And Six
All you need to know about the Nielsen's for the last week…Last week's season 3 premiere of Eureka was up 10% from their season 2 debut…Thursday's Big Brother hit a season high with 6.5 million viewers…Flashpoint continued to enjoy it's new Thursday night slot, to the tune of 7.6 million…It was a Facts of Life Thursday for NBC with Last Comic Standing and Fear Itself both finishing up 10% from the week before…So You Think You Can Dance? won Thursday in both total audience and demos…While overall ratings for this season of Project Runway are down, the gains from episode to episode are notable, especially considering that Bravo is not particularly invested in marketing the series anymore…Fab Five: The Texas Cheerleader Scandal was the most watched Lifetime movie of the year with women 12-34…The return of the NFL paid off handsomely for NBC on Sunday night, up 26% from last season's Hall of Fame Game…Are the ratings half full or half empty for Mad Men this week?; while the numbers still surpassed any totals from season one, the audience dropped 37% for week two. Its audience of 1.33 million was bested by fellow cable timeslot mates In Plain Sight (4.22 million) and Army Wives (4.18 million)…The Secret Life of the American Teenager can not be stopped – for the fourth week in a row it hit a series high for total audience (4.1 million) and for demos…Speaking of series highs, the back-to-back Bravo programming of Flipping Out's finale and Million Dollar Listings premiere produced total audience and demo records…Even more highs – the finale of Tori and Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood not only popped for the show's highest rating ever but it was also the most watched program in the 18-49 demo in the history of the Oxygen network…12.4 million tuned in to a two hour edition of America's Got Talent on Tuesday, easily making it the night's most watched programming in every measurable demo…

All The Young Dudes Carry The News
Industry News, Notes, and Hot Rumors…Fox confirmed that American Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe is leaving the show after five highly successful seasons to pursue a new company with fellow Idol producer Simon Fuller, which is said to include worldwide versions of So You Think You Can Dance? as their first big project. No word yet on a replacement but this may be a bit of a blessing in disguise since many around AI thought there were changes that needed to be made… Here's some news that may cause my brother to check out the happenings in Genoa City; real life gang banger turned actor Danny Trejo will be doing multiple episodes of The Young and the Restless, with his first appearance being August 11th…Speaking of soap opera guest stars, Vincent Pastore, best known as Big Pussy on The Sopranos, will do a month long stint on General Hospital this October…To the surprise of no one, Fox renewed So You Think You Can Dance? for a fifth season…Paula Abdul is shopping a cheerleading competition reality series that she would host, judge, and be executive producer of…I said last week that Life on Mars had completed their cast re-tooling but I was wrong; Lisa Bonet will recur as Jason O'Mara's 2009 girlfriend (as opposed to Gretchen Mol, who is playing a potential love interest in the 1973). In the original, it's Bonet's characters being taken hostage by a serial killer that leads to the car accident that sends O'Mara back in time (or into a coma, or into psychosis…)…John Maisus (St Elsewhere, Touched By An Angel, Providence) is developing Time Heals for TNT, a drama about a single Mom who runs the nursing department for a North Carolina hospital…Former Law and Order executive producer Chris Levinson had his year and a half old pilot script Lost and Found given a cast-contingent pick up by NBC this week. The drama follows a female cop whose insubordination causes her to be banished to work missing persons cases out of the basement of the police station…The Cartoon Network is making a live action Scooby Doo movie – a prequel to the two theatrical releases of the 90's – that will air in the fall 2009 before hitting stores shortly thereafter. None of the cast from the big screen movies will appear…The great Billy Dee Williams will appear on an episode of Private Practice this fall, as will Grant Show, who can currently be seen rocking one of the best moustaches in TV history on Swingtown…The late Tim Russert's son Luke will be a correspondent for NBC during the upcoming Democratic and Republican National Conventions…Christina Hendricks (Mad Men) will reprise her role as Charlie's stepmother-to-be on Life this fall…Mark Consuelos – aka Mr. Kelly Ripa – will guest on Ugly Betty's upcoming third season…Denis Leary will host CBS's fifth annual Fashion Rocks special, which features performances by Justin Timberlake, Beyonce, Mariah Carey, Fergie, and Chris Cornell…Shane West will reprise his role of Dr. Ray Barnett on at least two episodes during ER's final season…Kelli Williams (The Practice) is the female lead opposite Tim Roth in Fox's pilot Lie To Me…WE has ordered six episodes of Little Miss Perfect, a reality series that follows families entering their 5-11 year olds in beauty pageants…The second wind of Christopher Knight's career continues to blow strong as he was named host of the Trivial Pursuit: America Plays, a new game show that debuts in syndication this September…Ed Begley Jr. replaces Larry Miller in the new CBS sitcom Gary Unmarried, which is the new name for Jay Mohr's series about a guy adjusting to being divorced; Begley Jr. plays his ex-wife's new husband, who also happens to be their former marriage counselor…Sadly, the ratings for ABC Family's The Middleman have not been great and the network cut the order from 13 episodes to 12. The public spin was that they wanted the finale to be as strong as possible, but it seems unlikely at this point that the show will return. Maybe if they put 1/10th the money they invested in The Secret Life of the American Teenager into this phenomenal action comedy, they might have had equally as big a fan base…Mike Shoemaker, an Emmy winning producer who has been with SNL since 1986, will be the man in charge of behind the scenes activities for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon…Wipeout has been renewed for a second season…David Simon is reaching out to alumni of The Wire for his new HBO series Treme. Set in post-Katrina New Orleans, Wendell Pierce and Clarke Peters have signed on, and Khandi Alexander (CSI: Miami, News Radio), who worked with Simon on The Corner, is in final negotiations…Dan Marino shot down rumors that he will appear as a contestant this fall on Dancing With the Stars…

Turns Out Not Where But Who You're With That Really Matters
The top thing I watched since the last column went to press AKA The Best Of What's Around…Reality TV can be different things to different people, and of course that's one of the reasons that I do love television so, but my two requirements for tuning in to the types of shows that purport to document the everyday lives of their subjects are a) that the people are either interesting themselves or doing something interesting (hopefully both) and b) that what we see in some way resembles their actual lives. Based on those two criteria, Flipping Out has to be considered the best show of its kind currently on television. For points of reference, I would say that The Academy and 30 Days are the best documentary shows, and The Next Food Network Star is my favorite reality competition show (not the best, just my favorite – the best is BBC America's Last Restaurant Standing).

Jeff Lewis is the best thing to happen to reality TV in years and it's his self awareness that shines such a bright and shining light on the lies that are The Hills. Lewis is prone to fits of anxiety, pettiness, and anger, and at times can be downright mean. He is also phenomenally good at his job and, this season more than last, has been remarkably able to recognize his personality issues and even poke fun at them. What's best about Jeff is that you never for even a moment doubt that who we are seeing is the real Jeff, and that the real Jeff is never, ever boring. Contrast that with the highly choreographed (borderline scripted) non-actions of the dead-behind-the-eyes "people" that make up MTV's pop culture phenomenon and then explain to me why the likes of Lauren and Heidi still get the cover of Entertainment Weekly (I know, I know – I answered my own question by referring to it as a PCP).

Yes, all reality TV has some level of manipulation involved, but this season of Flipping Out has included a marriage's sudden and shocking dissolution as well as people being hired, fired, and even quitting, all of which was in no way staged for the cameras. I know this rant seems to be as much about The Hills as it is Flipping Out, and that's by design since I am truly baffled by the public's interest in such boring, vapid people; hey, you may not like Jeff Lewis' personality but at least he has one!

This season Flipping Out did something almost unheard of in reality TV – they had a second season better than their first. Let's hope Bravo is smart and gives us a third!

People Say I'm Crazy Doing What I'm Doing. Well, They Give Me All Kinds Of Warnings To Save Me From Ruin
What's flashed before my eyes the last seven days…One of the things that makes Burn Notice so enjoyable is the way they work the recurring characters in; Michael's Mom is in every episode but sometimes just for a quick scene, and his brother Matt appeared last week for the first time this season. They way they have taken the time to lay the groundwork makes the family tension that much deeper, and the progress they make that much more rewarding…Loved the little CSI spoof on The Middleman last week, which ended with some unexpected, but rather well done, melancholy…Hey, an In Plain Sight that was not about a murder – what a concept. I continue to enjoy this show's freshman series as it's become quite clear that Mary McCormack is more than up to the task of fronting a successful TV series…I must admit to not hating the new Pam Anderson series on E!, but that's about as far as I'll go (which may be something Pam herself has never said). It's certainly a lot more real than what usually passes for "reality" on E!...I lasted only five minutes into Luke's Parental Advisory before deciding there were much better things to do with my time…The new VH-1 reality show I did enjoy was I Want To Work For Diddy (aka The Rap-prentice). While I would have enjoyed a casting special to figure out exactly how these 13 were chosen, the first episode tasks they were given seemed on-target for the job they were trying out for, and I found myself enjoying the vignettes of Diddy espousing his words of wisdom. This got a season pass from me…Also getting a season pass after one episode was Long Way Down, the chronicling of Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman's motorcycle journey from Scotland to South Africa. It's only been on once so far and they air the previous week's outing immediately preceding new episodes Saturday at 9 pm…Fantastic last scene on The Closer this week, perhaps leading to some self analysis from Deputy Chief Brenda Lee Johnson. Fritz was spot on in his comments to her and her apology was painfully in character. Also kudos to the show for casting Kevin Rankin (Friday Night Lights, Bionic Woman, My Name Is Earl), fast becoming a go-to TV character actor…Mrs. Tivo wanted me to make sure and include a note about how great Shark Week was, in particular the special episodes of Myth Busters and Dirty Jobs…

TV Pick Of The Week
It's Two Tivos to Paradise vs. The Critics this Saturday when FX airs a season one marathon of it's high praised (but not on these pages) legal thriller Damages. Starting at 7 am they will run all 13 episodes of the show, which received 7 Emmy nominations, so you can tune in and decide for yourself if this is a well cast, well acted, tension filled drama or a ridiculously over-the-top series that takes itself WAY too seriously, including a performance by Glenn Close that practically has her reaching out and eating the trees. One thing everyone can agree on is that Ted Danson is fantastic, leaving Sam Malone and Dr. Becker very far behind him as the heavy of the piece. Something else we're all on the same page on is that the producers have pulled off several casting coups for the upcoming season, adding Oscar winners William Hurt and Marcia Gay Harden to the show. Don't miss the season one marathon of Damages this Saturday at 7 am on FX.

Other noteworthy programming of the next seven days…

*The opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympics (NBC) begin at 7:30 pm on NBC tonight.
*Primeval, a fun looking new sci-fi adventure series from BBCAmerica, premieres Saturday night at 9 pm
*Fox begins re-airing the first season of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Sundays and Mondays at 9 pm.
*The Mole (ABC) season (and quite possible series) finale is Monday at 10 pm.
*Combine High School Musical and shopping and you've got the made-for-MTV movie American Mall, which debuts Monday at 9 pm.
*History Channel's Monsterquest investigates Big Foot sightings in New York state Wednesday at 9 pm.
*Making The Band's third season kicks off on Wednesday at 9 pm on MTV.
*The fourth season of Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List wraps up Thursday at 10 pm on Bravo.

Two Tivos To Paradise, Weekly Update
30 Days, 30 Rock, The Academy, American Idol, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, Antique Roadshow, The Apprentice, Battlestar Galactica, Best Week Ever, Big Love, Bones, Boston Legal, Breaking Bad, Brothers And Sisters, Burn Notice, Chuck, The Closer, Criss Angel Mindfreak, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Deadliest Catch, Desperate Housewives, Destination Truth, Dirty Sexy Money, Entourage, Eureka, Everybody Hates Chris, Flipping Out, Ghost Hunters, Gossip Girl, Grey's Anatomy, Heroes, The Hills, House, How I Met Your Mother, I Want To Work For Diddy, Last Comic Standing, Last Restaurant Standing, Law And Order, Law And Order: Criminal Intent, Law And Order: Special Victims Unit, Long Way Down, Lost, Mad Men, Make Me A Supermodel, Medium, The Middleman, My Name Is Earl, The New Adventures Of Old Christine, Next Food Network Star, Nip/Tuck, The Office, One Tree Hill, Private Practice, Project Runway, Pushing Daisies, Psych, Real Time With Bill Maher, The Real Hustle, Reaper, Rescue Me, The Riches, Rules Of Engagement, Run's House, Samantha Who?, The Sarah Jane Chronicles, Saturday Night Live, Scrubs, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, Shear Genius, So You Think You Can Dance?, The Soup, Step It Up and Dance, Supernatural, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Top Chef, Top Design, Torchwood, Ugly Betty

People Love You When They Know You're Leaving Soon
Here ends another edition of Two Tivos To Paradise. I'll be heading to Fenway this weekend to catch the annual minor league double header featuring their A and AAA teams, plus hope to take my Dad to a matinee showing of Pineapple Express.

Have a great week, see you next Friday!

Feedback is encouraged at [e-mail] as well via the comments section below.

Sources for this week's column include Daily Variety, Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide, and Hollywood Reporter (plus the web sites for those publications) as well as Aintit.cool.com.