BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- The Summer 2008 Television Critics Association press tour has come to an end - almost. Today we're touring the sets of several series and tonight I'll be flying back to Pittsburgh on the red eye. Here's a brief recap of each of the network parties, which are not "hey, have a good time" parties, but instead they're working press events where TV critics get a chance to interview actors, writers and producers one-on-one.
Turner Networks
Location: The Beverly Hilton Hotel, Oasis Courtyard
Workability: Not too loud. Outside but not too dark. Good star turnout. Even Holly Hunter (TNT's "Saving Grace") and Kyra Sedgwick (TNT's "The Closer") showed up. Unfortunately, Sedgwick had one of those horrible personal publicists who pulls their clients out of interviews ... so she can talk to her show's producers. Don't they do that at work? Isn't the point of these parties press access?
PBS
Location: The Jim Henson Company studios
Workability: Fascinating opportunity to see the digital motion capture puppetry process, which I wrote about in a previous post.
Fox
Location: Santa Monica Pier amusement park
Workability: The music was way too loud in some spots. All the games were distractions to the stars, who wanted to play. I did manage to get a few interviews conducted in between tossing golf balls to win a Bart Simpson doll for a fellow TV critic. I didn't ride any rides.
ABC
Location: The Beverly Hilton, Beverly Hills Ballroom
Workability: Too dark, too loud. Despite this annoyance, I managed to get several interviews done for print. But the loud music ruined any hope for conducting podcast interviews. Emmy winner Kristin Chenoweth showed up with boyfriend Aaron Sorkin, who said I look like I'm getting younger (a friend suggested it could be that their eyesight is getting worse). Then Chenoweth grabbed my chin like I was a cute child. Sort of embarrassing but Chenoweth is so sweet, I couldn't object. She said she had to record her Christmas album the next morning and planned to leave early, but she outlasted me and all of the "Desperate Housewives." There are few actors I'd count myself a fan of, but I do love Chenoweth for both her work and her sunny personality. Sorkin said he's working on something new "so you guys can start beating me up again." I said, "Oh, come on, we gave ‘West Wing' lots of love," and he acknowledged, "Yeah, more than I deserved." Although I wasn't fond of "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," I remain a huge fan of Sorkin's work and I'm thrilled to know he's working on a new TV series.
CBS/CW/Showtime
Location: Boulevard3, Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood
Workability: A mixed bag. People could barely move in the entry courtyard but once inside the club there was plenty of space. Noise level was acceptable and lighting was fine, too. Got a fair number of interviews done, including actor Jim Parsons ("The Big Bang Theory") who could not have been nicer. He's the rare actor on a popular TV series who seems genuinely enthusiastic and appreciative about his role. Not one but two young journalists covering the press tour came up to me and said they were from the Pittsburgh area and I was the first TV critic they'd ever read. It's official, Chenoweth/Sorkin comments notwithstanding, I'm no longer a young'un, I'm a geezer.
NBC
Location: The Beverly Hilton Hotel, Oasis Courtyard
Workability: Good star turnout, although it did not start as scheduled at 7 p.m. and TV critics were left standing in the lobby until they'd let us in. Once inside, it was a pretty good shindig for working. Music wasn't too loud. A bearded Jamie Bamber, who plays Apollo on "Battlestar Galactica," said he finished work on the series last Friday. Even though I don't cover sports on TV, I had to chat up former Pittsburgh Steeler Jerome Bettis. Weirdest star sighting: Gale Harold (" as Folk"), who joins the cast of ABC's "Desperate Housewives" but who I didn't see at the ABC star party, was there for reasons that were not at all apparent. A personal publicist for one of the "Heroes" stars kept twirling her hand in the air like a helicopter to give reporters the "wrap it up" sign after just a few minutes. Boo hiss. But kudos to smart, articulate "Heroes" actor Milo Ventimiglia who allowed himself to be cornered for interviews for at least an hour.
Press tour may be over, but daily blog posts will continue, so please check back tomorrow. And thanks for reading the press tour dispatches!
Posted
Jul 22 2008, 12:01 AM
by
Rob Owen