TCA News

Week of special PBS programming to focus on Newtown tragedy

| By
Week of special PBS programming to focus on Newtown tragedy

Updated Feb. 18, 2013, 11:24am CT At the Television Critics Association (TCA) Winter Press Tour today, PBS announced that in response to the tragic shootings in Newtown, Conn., last month, it will be airing a week of special programming under the banner “After Newtown” that will “continue the public conversation on gun laws, mental illness and school security.” The “After Newtown” programming will air on PBS stations Feb. 18-22 (check local listings) and will range from original documentaries to installments of established PBS programs. In explaining this PBS coverage, network president and CEO Paula Kerger said, “PBS is not the [...]

More

Violence in “The Following” questioned, defended at FOX TCA panels

| By
Violence in “The Following” questioned, defended at FOX TCA panels

FOX’s new midseason thriller The Following, starring Kevin Bacon and James Purefoy, premieres Jan. 21 at 9pm ET/PT. Bacon plays a former FBI agent called out retirement to track down the serial killer he once put away, who has escaped and recruited a cult of murderous followers. Befitting its dark premise, The Following depicts some dark acts, from eye-stabbings to burnings. In our current climate where the national conversation has been turned toward looking at ways to prevent tragedies of the sort that occurred last month in Newtown, Conn., some people have suggested that television and movie violence may play a role. [...]

More

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

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

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 [...]

More

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

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

    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 [...]

More

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

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

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 [...]

More

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

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

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 [...]

More

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

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

“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 [...]

More

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

| By

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.

More

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

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

“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 [...]

More

TCA: critics indict mishandling of breaking news at ABC News panel

| By
ABC News president Ben Sherwood

While there were a few gracious questions for Good Morning America‘s Robin Roberts regarding her health and who might fill in when she undergoes a bone marrow transplant for myelodysplastic syndrome (Barbara Walters, Katie Couric, Diane Sawyer, Kelly Ripa, and the cast of The View have all reportedly volunteered), Thursday morning’s ABC News panel was largely an indictment of how news outlets handle breaking news. At the forefront of the discussion — with ABC News President Ben Sherwood on hand in person and the GMA crew looking on via satellite  — was correspondent Brian Ross’ confusing a Tea Party supporter named James Holmes with [...]

More