by Laura Saltman
Somebody get me a cocktail! After spending my evening on the red carpet at ABC’s TCA party, my hair’s turned gray, I’ve lost several brain cells and I’m exhausted to the point where I may need to sleep for a week. OK, it’s really not all that bad but it’s certainly not the most enjoyable experience. Everyone thinks working for a show like Access Hollywood is very glamorous but in truth most of the time it’s not.
For most of you who don’t know, TCA stands for Television Critics Association. Essentially, every July a group of TV critics gather out in California for about two weeks and sit in a room to watch previews of the new Fall shows. Then, they get to ask questions to the stars of the show in a panel format. That’s then followed by a party where the critics are invited to mingle with the stars and the press gathers to interview them on the red carpet. Sounds like fun, right? Not really.
Imagine standing on your feet for three hours while publicists are throwing people at you to interview them about their new shows. Most of these actors you have never heard of before and you don’t really know much about their shows. So, inevitably you keep having to ask the same questions over and over, “tell me about your new show?”, “what’s your character like”, “how do you feel about the time slot they gave the show?” It’s all very boring. Let’s face it, I’d much rather have a conversation with someone about their lives or get a juicy scoop on what’s coming up on their hit show. By the time it was all over, I had conducted 40 interviews, some in multiples, for a grand total of about 60 people. That’s a whole lot of talking, even for a bigmouth like me.
Some folks around here would rather I keep this information to myself. They are afraid I might p*** off the networks, but it’s not like I’m bashing their shows here. I’m just saying that it’s all very counterproductive because 90 percent of these interviews will never be used. Besides, I’m pretty sure the actors hate the experience as much as the journalists. Most of them have barely started production on the show. So, they don’t exactly have all that much information to give. In fact, Wendie Malick, who was brilliant on “Just Shoot Me” and now has a show to promote called “Big Day,” came up to me and asked me how I dealt with all this bull*&$!. Loved her for that.
Ok, enough griping. I still love TV and this is all just a side effect we deal with to get to the good stuff. I was able to find out that “Dancing with the Stars” will make the announcement on August 15th on “Good Morning America,” which stars will be busting a move this season. Nothing has been confirmed but it seems like Harry Hamlin and Vivica A. Fox may be a lock. This go-round on the dance floor, 11 contestants will vie for the top spot. You’ll recall Season 1 had 6 and Season 2 had 10 celebrities. The studio will have a different look to it as well, as they are planning on adding balconies for the audience.
The big story of the night was about “Desperate Housewives.” Earlier in the day, ABC Entertainment President, Stephen McPherson, fielded questions from the critics and admitted that the show’s second season had been a disappointment.
Eva Longoria told me she disagreed, “The viewers were higher in the second season than the first. People, I think, forget that the first season was such a phenomenon that they really didn’t look at ratings as much in our second year and our second year ratings were even higher. So, it’s funny that everybody said we had a slump. I personally had some really fun stuff. Television goes in waves and cycles, it’s just a business.”
James Denton, who is just such a nice guy, told me he actually agreed with McPherson and that the show’s executive producer, Marc Cherry has already sprung into action, “I don’t think anybody was satisfied with season 2, Marc (Cherry) included. I think it was better than it had gotten credit for but I think there were some missteps.” I think Marc has a really good handle on what he wants to do this year. Everybody is really excited about season 3. It’s going to be much more similar to season 1, the way the mystery is driven through fewer characters more people involved with each other on the street. So, I think if people were unhappy, Marc is listening.”
I guess this means Denton’s character, Mike, will be back and doesn’t die after getting hit by the car in the season finale.
As for the emmy snub, everyone was understandably disappointed. Doug Savant, who plays Tom Scavo, takes it all in stride, “I think they did something very different this year with the emmy nominations. So, I was sort of flabbergasted by I guess the lack of nominations, especially for people like Felicity and all of our women, but we don’t put our stock in that. If we can create a good show, if we get good numbers, if the audience is loving it, that’s compelling to us and that’s compelling to the network and that’s what we are here to do is to entertain people. If there are awards it’s icing on the cake.”
Speaking of cake (wedding cake, that is) both Doug and Eva attended Marcia Cross’ recent wedding and had glowing things to say about the blushing bride. Eva says, “It was beautiful. Marcia was one of the most beautiful brides I have ever seen, she was like Mary Magdalene. She was glowing and she was so calm, too. She e-mailed me in the morning making sure I had directions to the church, making sure I knew where to park. I was like ‘it’s your wedding day stop calling me!’”
Doug added, ” It was the most beautiful wedding I have ever been at. It was just a room filled with love and they are a couple in love. It was really nice to be there for that. I’ve known her a long time, over 10 years. It was nice to see her so satisfied and happy.”
More from TCA’s next week with NBC and FOX. Questions or comments? E-mail me at [email protected].
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