tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55393522009-02-21T02:20:25.187-08:00Charlie McCollum in HollywoodCharlie McCollum has written news and views from the world of television for the Mercury News since 1999.Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09047855947865176484noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5539352.post-1059181956401115032003-07-25T18:12:00.000-07:002003-07-25T18:12:36.503-07:00Now it's time to say good-bye...
The Tour started breaking up today even as NBC was finishing its two-day presentation. Don't know why but writers are drooling to get home after three weeks of interviews, gossip, chat fests, parties and snappy repartee. Could it be that everyone is just plain dead tired? Yeah.
Some quick parting shots from the last moments of The Tour, which began 18 longCharliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09047855947865176484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5539352.post-1059080612243379172003-07-24T14:03:00.000-07:002003-07-24T14:12:31.180-07:00 After a few days of precious little news on The Tour,
NBC came calling this morning with a fistful of
announcements in hand to brighten the writers' day.
To wit:
-- Entertainment boss Jeff Zucker confirmed one of the
worst-kept secrets in Hollywood by announcing that at
least one of the six "Friends'' will back in fall 2004. ("Friends''
ends its run next May.) Matt LeBlanc will star in Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09047855947865176484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5539352.post-1058987659893446392003-07-23T12:14:00.000-07:002005-02-23T21:10:31.293-08:00What happens when you put together people from the press and people from Hollywood? They gossip, of course.On The Tour, there has been all kinds of insider dish and diss. How long will Lloyd Braun and Susan Lyne last as the heads of entertainment at ABC if the network doesn't do better in the ratings? (Disney is notorious for having a quick trigger finger when it comes to failure.) How long will Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09047855947865176484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5539352.post-1058926286920464512003-07-22T19:11:00.000-07:002003-07-22T19:11:26.980-07:00To say the enthusiasm among writers for today's UPN presentation was muted would be putting it mildly. Part of it wasn't the Weblet's fault: Many on The Tour hit the wall after over two weeks during the second CBS day on Monday and were starting to lurch through the halls of the Renaissance Hotel like zombies.
But UPN is also a ratings-impaired network that is not even available in some Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09047855947865176484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5539352.post-1058859300828187972003-07-22T00:35:00.000-07:002003-07-22T00:35:00.780-07:00 It is, frankly, a bit hard to get too excited about the CBS sessions here at The Tour.
That's no fault of the network, which is sitting fat and happy these days with a solid
schedule and big hits such as "Survivor,'' "CSI'' and "Everybody Loves Raymond.''
For one thing, CBS doesn't have a lot of tweaks to make so the number of
new shows on its schedule is limited. (Lower than any other Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09047855947865176484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5539352.post-1058768887727111532003-07-20T23:28:00.000-07:002003-07-20T23:28:07.760-07:00I'm not kidding here but these really are working parties. For writers on The Tour, a good party is not just lots of free booze, fine food and a great DJ. A good party is one where a lot of series stars, show creators and network executives show up … and actually take time to talk. That allows a reporter get drive-by quotes, face-time with people who actually make the shows and establish some Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09047855947865176484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5539352.post-1058496185197387542003-07-17T19:43:00.000-07:002003-07-17T19:43:05.146-07:00Sorry for the gap in the flow. On Wednesday, I was over at the Paramount Studios much of the day, doing some snooping on FX's new ""Nip/Tuck'' which as you might gather from the title is about a couple of plastic surgeons.
I'll have a full review of ""Nip'' next Tuesday but, as part of the visit, I got a look at the series' second episode. To say it was cringe-inducing in the best possible Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09047855947865176484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5539352.post-1058308649964208242003-07-15T15:37:00.000-07:002003-07-15T15:57:38.820-07:00So here we are on the 8th … or is it the 108th? … day of The Tour. We're past cable, we're past PBS, we're into the networks with ABC currently on stage. We're playing Press Tour bingo (see rules below) and getting occasionally grumpy when network executives, producers and stars duck relatively straight-forward questions.
But, hey, in just the past three days, we've gotten a hot performance Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09047855947865176484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5539352.post-1058253166249701282003-07-15T00:12:00.000-07:002003-07-15T15:48:12.716-07:00 Some notes, gossip and sly innuendo from The Tour:
* Don't be surprised if a laundered version of HBO's ""Sex and the City''
actually ends up on one of the broadcast networks in the not-too-distant
future. The premium cable channel was originally asking something like $3
million an episode for the buzz-worthy series about four women looking for
love in New York City that has been Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09047855947865176484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5539352.post-1058231236904867642003-07-14T18:07:00.000-07:002003-07-14T18:07:16.940-07:00Over the course of three weeks on The Tour, you can in all honesty find yourself somewhat bored with the proceedings. That's largely because the people (stars, show creators, network executives) have gotten this game down to the point that certain cliches surface over and over and over again.
Which is where Press Tour Bingo comes in. It's a form of Corporate Bingo where, at staff meetings, Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09047855947865176484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5539352.post-1058131679378689872003-07-13T14:27:00.000-07:002003-07-13T14:27:59.400-07:00I have to say that I'm somewhat surprised … actually, a bit overwhelmed … by the response to this blog. There have been a ton of questions, mostly about specific shows including a lot about ""Battlestar Galactica'' and ""Angels In America,'' but there have been more than a few about what actually takes place each day on The Tour.
So, OK, here's the breakdown:
The day is made up of a Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09047855947865176484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5539352.post-1058131257743696992003-07-13T14:20:00.000-07:002003-07-13T14:20:57.790-07:00PBS is perceived as a pretty stodgy part of the TV world but, occasionally, it can bust loose from that image.
On day six of The Tour, it threw a pretty darn good bash at the original and most funky House of Blues in West Hollywood. The party was to hype ""The Blues,'' a seven-part September series on the musical genre by such filmmakers as Martin Scorcese, Clint Eastwood and Wim Wenders.
Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09047855947865176484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5539352.post-1058130973750891212003-07-13T14:16:00.000-07:002003-07-13T14:16:13.823-07:00OK, you're a network trying to do a party to promote a new series about a carnival. What do you do?
Well, predictably, you would hire a real modern carnival, bring in good food and booze and everyone would probably be happy. But HBO operates on a different plane.
To hype ""Carnivale,'' its new show about a sideshow traveling the Dust Bowl during the 1930s, the premium cable channel Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09047855947865176484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5539352.post-1057877571424442982003-07-10T15:52:00.000-07:002003-07-10T15:52:51.280-07:00And this just in for ""Star War'' fans looking to bridge the gap between episode II ""Attack of the Clones'' and episode III, which George Lucas is now shooting:
The Cartoon Network will air 20 three-minute animated shorts ""an epic micro-series'' is the network's description of it called ""Star Wars: Clone Wars.'' Done by a team of animators headed by Genndy Tartakovsky, whose ""Samurai Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09047855947865176484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5539352.post-1057875362188308262003-07-10T15:16:00.000-07:002003-07-10T15:16:33.230-07:00Along with actually providing interviews, spin and occasional news, the cable channels and the
networks also provide parties during The Tour … just about every day.
There's food and booze, the stars show up to chat up one and all and the publicity departments
try to top each other in exotic or hip locales. It supposed to impress the writers enough to think
good thoughts about the channels Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09047855947865176484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5539352.post-1057863987504320682003-07-10T12:06:00.000-07:002003-07-10T12:06:27.556-07:00Quotes from the front … and The Tour:
Bravo's “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy'' is a new and very cool show that involves five
gay guys helping a hopeless straight guy get a makeover, including a redo of their house or
apartment. Asked what was the most surprising thing they found in redoing straight guys' digs,
Ted Allen … the food and wine expert … said it was “the vast amounts of porn Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09047855947865176484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5539352.post-1057823211169646062003-07-10T00:46:00.000-07:002003-07-10T06:55:20.360-07:00 There are moments on The Tour … OK, we all know what The Tour is by now, right? … that
border on the surreal, mostly because it involves moments when the celebrity world collides
with the real world.
Three days into the tour, those moments include:
* Almost-film-star Gary Busey, whose reality show "I'm With Busey'' on Comedy Central is one of the guilty pleasures of summer TV, did a Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09047855947865176484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5539352.post-1057692820370393042003-07-08T12:33:00.000-07:002003-07-08T12:33:40.486-07:00Some quick notes from day two of The Tour:
-- The semiannual Television Week magazine critics' poll is out and there are some surprises in
the rankings of TV's best.
HBO's ""The Wire,'' the gritty cop drama, jumped all the way from 12th in January's poll to No.
1, reflecting critical response to the start of its second season. But it only barely edged out
NBC's ""Boomtown'' and Comedy Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09047855947865176484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5539352.post-1057671602709434052003-07-08T06:40:00.000-07:002003-07-08T07:50:43.066-07:00OK, we're here. Renaissance Hotel, downtown Hollywood, people looking for the star of their star on Hollywood Boulevard. Long lines at the El Capitan Theater where Disney's “Nemo'' is still playing. Helicopters circling around over head, covering one of those car chases local L.A. television just loves. (If you think local news is bad in the Bay Area, spend three weeks in Los Angeles.)
And, Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09047855947865176484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5539352.post-1057192508281802562003-07-02T17:35:00.000-07:002003-07-02T17:35:08.300-07:00Welcome to Wonderland. I'm Alice and I've just fallen down the rabbit hole.
Actually, it usually takes me a week or so to feel that way about the Television Critics Association press tour.
For those of you who didn't know such a tour exists … and there is absolutely no reason why you should … it is a semi-annual event where 200-odd (many of us very odd) television writers, critics and Charliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09047855947865176484noreply@blogger.com