TCA Archives - Page 15 of 23 - StayTuned Magazine

American Idol: Judges and execs talk Season 12

January 8, 2013 Lori Acken

The judging panel for American Idol Season 12 took to the stage at the TCA Winter Press Tour today to present a united front. Sort of. While FOX head of alternative programming, Mike Darnell, assured assembled critics that the much-publicized feud between freshman judges Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj wasn’t drummed up to lure disillusioned viewers back to the show, he added that all of the judges disagree with one another — only because they are so passionate about finding America’s next music superstar. “They fight all the time,” Carey then quipped about fellow newbie Keith Urban and the judge’s […]

Deception premieres tonight on NBC

January 7, 2013 Lori Acken

Most talk about NBC’s new nighttime soap Deception, which premieres tonight at 10, has centered on two things: the fact that its lead character is a black female (Det. Joanna Locasto, played by Caliornication‘s Meagan Good) and the show’s seeming amalgamation of rival-network dramas like Scandal and Revenge. But Deception‘s creator Liz Heldens says she wasn’t so much focused on any of that when she began to assemble the series — she was thinking about the movies. “Two of my favorite movies are [mob infiltration flicks] Donnie Brasco and The Departed,” Heldens told reporters at this week’s TCA Winter Press Tour. “And […]

NBC’s new Michael J. Fox series will debut in fall

January 7, 2013 Lori Acken

At yesterday’s NBC executive session at the Winter TCA press tour, NBC Entertainment President Jennifer Salke announced that its half-hour sitcom from Michael J. Fox has begun production. Written by Sam Laybourne (Cougar Town, Arrested Development) and directed by Will Gluck (Easy A), the as yet untitled show is based on Fox’ own experiences as a husband. dad and famous guy who is grappling with Parkinson’s disease. Slake said that while Fox will play a newsman — not an actor — who left the spotlight because of the effects of the disease, the show will mirror his own ability to […]

TCA: “Weeds” series finale — and what’s in those smokin’ props

July 31, 2012 Lori Acken

Weeds fans, if you’ve always wondered what’s in those “joints” that the cast members smoke on-camera, here’s the deal. The official tobacco- and nicotine-free props from Honeyrose are “created from a blend of quality selected herbs including marshmallow, red clover and rose. The taste is enhanced with fruit juice.” TV writers at the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour’s Showtime sessions received these “tokins of appreciation” straight from the Weeds gang, who were on hand Tuesday to discuss their eight and final season. Though Showtime’s president of entertainment David Nevins would only say that the Sept. 16 two-part series finale would […]

TCA “Elementary” panel: Why a Big Apple Holmes and a woman Watson could work

July 31, 2012 Lori Acken

In the upcoming CBS drama Elementary, a very modern Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) is a disgraced and traumatized former London detective who takes a gig as a NYC police consultant after he’s sprung from rehab. His Watson? A troubled former surgeon turned sober companion who’s assigned to Sherlock’s case. Also, she’s a lady. First name, Joan. Played by Lucy Liu. But before you wave your well-worn copy of “Hounds of the Baskervilles” in protest, or swear you’ll only watch Holmes on high-falutin’ networks like PBS or the BBC, Elementary’s executive producer and writer Rob Doherty says he hopes […]

Connie Britton and Reba McEntire play country queens this fall on ABC

July 30, 2012 Lori Acken

On ABC’s promising upcoming sudser Nashville – an hour-long drama that’s a little bit country (music) and a little bit political/family potboiler — Connie Britton stars as a fortysomething songbird who finds her career impinged upon by a marginally-talented but brilliantly-marketed youthful sex bomb, played by Hayden Panettiere. While TV types have had a field day guessing which real-life Nashville doyenne and ingénue the ladies’ characters might be based upon, one country legend simply asked Britton outright. “I ran into Reba McEntire on a plane and she said, ‘Did you hear that they’re saying that you’re playing me in your […]

“Dancing With the Stars: All-Stars” — how’d they choose that cast?

July 28, 2012 Lori Acken

By now you’ve checked out the cast list and lamented the “All-Stars” left out (No John O’Hurley?! No Jennifer Grey?! No Yamaguchi, nor Osmond, nor Gosselin?!). Perhaps you’ve already picked your favorite — Team Ohno, right here! — and handicapped the competition in terms of pasos and popularity. And now you’re wondering — just how’s this Dancing With The Stars: All-Stars deal going to work, exactly? The show’s executive producer, Conrad Green, took time to explain the season he calls “a treat for the viewers” to a packed room of television writers at the Television Critics Association Press Tour. Asked […]

Jenni Rivera’s daughter Chiquis is all grown up and “n Control”

July 28, 2012 Jeff Pfeiffer

“Being a Latina,” Janney “Chiquis” Marin told me during an interview at the TCA press tour last week, “you’re used to being cooped up and being protected up until you get married. Well, my mom and I made the decision that now it’s time for me to spread my wings and become a woman.” During our interview, Chiquis certainly sounds confident and in control of where she wants her life to go, so it’s fitting that her new series is called Jenni Rivera Presents: Chiquis ‘n Control. The hourlong show is a spinoff from mun2‘s highest-rated and most popular original reality […]

TCA: “Dancing With The Stars” all-star cast announcement (video)

July 27, 2012 Lori Acken

Straight from this morning’s announcement at the summer TCA Press Tour, here’s the cast of Dancing With The Stars: All-Stars: Pamela Anderson Emmitt Smith Gilles Marini Joey Fatone Drew Lachey Bristol Palin Kirstie Alley Apolo Anton Ohno Kelly Monaco Shawn Johnson Helio Castroneves Melissa Rycroft The 13th dancer will be chosen by the viewers from a field of Kyle Massey, Sabrina Bryan and Carson Kressley. Dancing With the Stars: All-Stars premieres Monday, Sept. 24, at 8pm.

TCA: Katie Couric offers bucket list for her upcoming ABC talk show “Katie”

July 26, 2012 Lori Acken

“I haven’t done this for a while,” said Katie Couric, looking enviably youthful and lovely — and just a trifle nervous — as she surveyed the roomful of television writers and critics assembled to hear her discuss her upcoming ABC talk show, Katie. Couric began by giving props to singer Sheryl Crow who wrote and performed Katie‘s peppy theme song which accompanied the video clip that preceded Couric taking the stage. “Sheryl’s someone who I admire a great deal and has experienced a lot in her life and is enormously talented,” she said, “so I was absolutely thrilled when she said […]