Note: TV critic Joanne Ostrow was in Pasadena, Calif., last week as the major networks rolled out their upcoming shows and stars for the press.
“V” is for Visitor.
The cast members of “V” jumped and laughed when they saw the special effects of “V” for the first time here. The remake of the ’80s sci-fi miniseries is due Nov. 3 on ABC. Elizabeth Mitchell, who plays an FBI agent in the piece, said she’ll return several times to Hawaii for “Lost,” so don’t think you know what happened when her character blew herself up with a bomb. “As in all things with ‘Lost,’ it will be a little tricky,” she said.
“V” trades in military, terrorist, religious and other metaphors. Executive producer Jeffrey Bell said the paranoia of our everyday orange alert means “We are a country very much fractured and struggling with all these issues.”
Reaching for “Eastwick.”
Rebecca Romijn, in “Eastwick” (adapted from “The Witches of Eastwick”) on ABC this fall, has a tough time looking at herself in the pilot because she can see she was pregnant with twins. She plays the Cher role. “It’s nice to play a woman again,” she said. “After trannys and mutants, it’s refreshing.”
The tone is intentionally close to “Desperate Housewives” and hoping for the same magic. The magic is different from the way it was in the “Eastwick” movie. The movie was suffused with diffuse magic; in the TV version, the women each have distinct magical powers.
Mostly, it lacks Jack Nicholson. Paul Gross, the Canadian star (“Due South,” “Slings and Arrows”), wisely positions himself as a slightly different devil. “Jack Nicholson, he’s Mount Rushmore,” Gross said.
Courteney Cox, cougar.
ABC’s “Cougar Town” knows its title is potentially off-putting. Is it a misogynistic word or a word of empowerment? Creator Bill Lawrence (“Scrubs,” “Spin City”) said it is “obviously intended to be a noisy title.” It is. “It’s a roll of the dice to get people to sample something.” He promises not to use the word in the show to describe of a 40-ish single woman dating younger men.
So, is Courteney a cougar?
Bionic Kelsey Grammer.
Kelsey Grammer, at press tour to plug his new ABC sitcom, “Hank,” said the riches-to-rags comedy is about a guy becoming a fully realized man. Sadly, it feels like Grammer playing Frasier again. Or a version of himself.
In “Hank,” themes of downsizing, back-to-basics and recession will be prominent. Funny or too true? “We don’t want it to be dour or too sad,” producer Tucker Cawley said. Viewers will decide.
Grammer lamented the way “Back to You” was nixed by Fox, mistreated by incoming execs who hadn’t backed it in the beginning. And then came the heart attack. “I had an event that they think was stress-related. It was not a great year.” He says he’s healthier and “somewhat bionic now.”
The idea of playing a dad in a traditional family sitcom appealed to him more than playing the aging skirt- chaser.
“What might be seen as pompous in this character is really just being out of touch.”
“FlashForward.”
What if you could know your destiny? Would you work to change it? That’s the premise of this ABC drama, a mystery that has the world’s population blacking out for 2 minutes, 17 seconds, experiencing a glimpse of the future, and a team (led by Joseph Fiennes) searching for clues to what happened, how and why.
What if you were an ABC mystery- drama and you could know whether you’ll still be on the air in six months? Would you rewrite now?
Producers promise most of the questions raised in the pilot will be answered by season’s end. Still, I worry this is going to be like “The Nine,” where a complex mystery sucks us in and fails to provide closure.
The production shut down L.A. freeways for three days to attain the pilot’s cinematic shots.
Compared with “Lost,” Dominic Monaghan said, this show is less deeply rooted in mythology. His character, Simon, doesn’t show up for a few episodes.
