Posted on Sun, Aug. 07, 2005

MIXED SIGNALS

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE WEIRD FROM ANNUAL TV CRITICS' TOUR
By Charlie McCollum

Mercury News

 

BEVERLY HILLS - I'd love to be able to tell you that after 19 days, 137 press conferences, more than two dozen parties and lots of schmoozing with network and cable executives, show producers and actors, I have profound insights into the current state of television.

But I can't, because I don't.

Occasionally on the Television Critics Association's semiannual press tour, there are flashes of inspiration as to where TV, or at least part of the medium, is going. But what you usually end up with at the end of nearly three weeks in another town are bits and pieces, thoughts and perceptions, fragments of what could be.

So here are some impressions from this summer's tour, which just came to an end:

Best of show

• PBS's ``No Direction Home: Bob Dylan,'' directed by Martin Scorsese and airing Sept. 26-27 as part of ``American Masters.'' Paranoia about possible piracy is so pervasive in the Dylan-Scorsese world that writers were told there would be no review DVDs or tapes available in advance. So, grumbling, everyone trooped over to a screening room on the 20th Century Fox back lot to watch the entire 3 1/2 hours in one gulp. It could have been a disaster. But, despite some flaws, the film is so compelling that everyone was jazzed.

• Coming totally out of left field, BBC America's ``Viva Blackpool,'' a six-episode series scheduled to begin Oct. 23, was the surprise hit of the tour. Reminiscent of the work of the late Dennis Potter (``The Singing Detective''), it mixes sex, murder and general mayhem with elaborate musical numbers and a sharp satirical edge. The clips were so good that they had writers scrambling to watch complete episodes.

• If there was any consensus among those on the tour, it was that the most promising network series is UPN's ``Everybody Hates Chris,'' which makes its debut Sept. 22. A session with Chris Rock, whose life is the basis for the show, and 12-year-old Tyler Williams, who plays the comedian as a kid, was so funny that it kicked up the buzz.

Stealth hit of the year

• Writers have seen only clips of it, but the overwhelming choice in this category is NBC's ``Three Wishes,'' a warm and fuzzy ``Extreme Makeover: Home Edition''-like reality show hosted by singer Amy Grant. Scheduled for 9 p.m. Fridays, beginning Sept. 23, this series could be so big that by midseason, it might end up anchoring the network's problematic Thursday lineup.

Quick exit

• On the other hand, NBC's ``My Name Is Earl'' could be one of those comedies that is just too cool for the room. The show about a low-rent criminal who wins the lottery and tries to make up for all the bad he's done is very funny. But it may have too much of an edge for network TV.

Biggest boost

• Sometimes a new series can boost a routine profile with a good interview session. This tour's example: CBS's ``How I Met Your Mother.'' Members of the cast, including Neil Patrick Harris, Alyson Hannigan and Jason Segel and creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas from ``The Late Show,'' were so funny, had such a clear idea of where the comedy was going and oozed enough chemistry that they pushed the show onto everybody's radar.

Worst sessions

• Current, the new cable channel founded by former Vice President Al Gore, among others, offered a textbook example of how not to do a session on the tour. This was like a presentation for potential investors, with lots of glitzy clips and pre-scripted comments from Gore and the hosts of various shows. After about 15 minutes, reporters started yelling for Gore to take questions. When he didn't immediately, some walked out.

• It wasn't that the folks from the WB's ``7th Heaven,'' which starts its 10th season Sept. 19, were bad. In fact, they were quite articulate and told good stories. But the WB insisted on turning the session into an anniversary photo op that dragged on forever and sent reporters fleeing for the exits.

The surreal life

• Just how weird can the tour get at times? Well, there was nothing stranger than the press conference for ``Pioneers of Primetime,'' a PBS special on the early days of TV. It featured Red Buttons doing Borscht Belt comedy, Mickey Rooney drifting off into rambling monologues, one-liners from Sid Caesar and Rose Marie, and Carl Reiner trying to keep some kind of order and decorum. You haven't lived until you've seen Buttons and Rooney doing dueling imitations of James Cagney singing ``Yankee Doodle Dandy.''

Familiar faces

• This was the unofficial ``Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' tour, with four former cast members picking up new series: David Boreanaz (Fox's ``Bones''), Alyson Hannigan (``How I Met Your Mother''), Nicholas Brandon (Fox's ``Kitchen Confidential'') and Seth Green (NBC's ``Four Kings''). In addition, Charisma Carpenter is joining the cast of UPN's ``Veronica Mars,'' and James Marsters will turn up on ``Smallville.''

• And the ``Buffy'' cast isn't the only one finding gainful employment. ``American Dreams'' wasn't canceled until May, but Gail O'Grady, Will Estes, Jonathan Adams and Keith Robinson already are back in the saddle with ABC's ``Hot Properties,'' Fox's ``Reunion'' and ``Bones,'' and FX's ``Over There,'' respectively.

Stay tuned for . . .

• Sci Fi's ``Triangle'' miniseries, coming in December, which is set in the Bermuda Triangle. Created by such folks as Bryan Singer (``X-Men'') and Rockne O'Bannon (``Farscape'') and with a cast headed by Sam Neill and Catherine Bell, it looks as if it could be another winner for the channel.

• HBO's ``Extras,'' coming Sept. 25. It's a comedy from the brilliant Ricky Gervais of ``The Office,'' and the clips were a hoot.

• NBC's ``The Book of Daniel,'' a midseason comedy-drama about a pill-popping priest with a wildly dysfunctional family who talks to Jesus Christ. This one polarized writers. Some hated it, while others likened it to ``Six Feet Under'' in its early days. I'm in the latter camp.

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