TV Talk

Summer TV Tour: Monday's Diary

It's Day 14. The countdown has begun. Only one more day before I no longer have to hear the words, “And our next session will begin in…�

So, you ever wonder what a press tour day is like?

Sure you do. Well, now you’ll find out. Check out my blow-by-blow diary today and you’ll probably learn more than you ever wanted to know about a typical press tour day.

6:08 a.m.: I peek at the clock and silently celebrate that Fox’s session won’t start for another three hours.

8:06: I can’t put it off any longer. I have to wake up. I draw back the curtains and am blinded by the sun. I need coffee. Now!

8:08: My sight returns. I check email, read what’s happening in the world outside the TV universe. Is there still a world?

8:58: Two minutes before Fox’s executive session with Peter Liguori, the network’s entertainment president. I rush downstairs to grab some breakfast. Eggs benedict again. What can I say? I’m a creature of habit. Before I make my plate, I run into an old friend I used to work with at People 12 years ago. She looks great. I tell her so. She says I keep getting younger and younger. I immediately decide she’s my new best friend since I just turned 44 yesterday.

9:04: Everyone, it seems, is blogging. Fox knows this. Which is why the network’s flack is telling us there’s a DJ in the back of the room who would be a good blog topic. I make a mental note. Then I write it down because after 14 days of press tour, my memory ain’t so good right now.

9:10: I sit next to my buddy from Buffalo. The same buddy I went to see Clerks II with the other night. Dumb movie. But I laughed a lot. What does that say about me? My Buffalo buddy tells me he hung out at the beach in Malibu yesterday. He wanted to know what I did. I tell him I blogged, wrote a Sports story on NBC Sunday Night Football as well as my column for Tuesday’s paper. It’s clear he had more fun than I did.

9:18: My mind is wandering already. Did I pay my cable bill? No, not yet. Well, it’s not due until the 28th. I have time. Good. A TV critic needs his cable.

9:45: The boring executive session ends. No real big Fox news came out of it. I go outside to see what the sun feels like and to make a few phone calls.

10:00: It’s time for the Standoff panel. Standoff is a new show about two hostage negotiators who are also dating. Stars Ron Livingston and Rosemarie DeWitt have super, duper chemistry in the pilot. And they have super, duper chemistry on stage. You know, like the stars on Bones. I'm sure that fact hasn't escaped Fox's programming suits.

10:06: I’m staring at Gina Torres. Hey, I’m a guy. She looks so much softer and prettier in person. But I know she still can probably kick my butt.

10:19: My mind is wandering again. I open up the candy Fox left us. Awww, how sweet. Not! I thought they were M&M’s. They sure look like M&M’s. I pop a red one in my mouth and quickly learn they’re not M&M’s. Not sure what kind of candy it is, but I don’t like it.

10:23: I scan through Fox’s schedule for the day. I’m looking for the sessions I can skip so I can take a much-needed power nap. Ah, the Hell’s Kitchen lunch. ‘The hell with that’, I say to myself.

10:25: I yawned.

10:26: I stretched. These activities help keep my mind sharp.

10:38: One critic wants to know if the Standoff producer knows who his competitors are on the schedule. The room groans. I do, too. We critics frown upon questions that could easily be answered by looking at the schedule yourself.

10:42: The Standoff panel ends. I run into my good friend from L.A. We exchange pleasantries and she wants to know where I’m going now. “To my room to blog,� I say. “About what?� she wonders. “Oh, I’m going to write a fun diary about my day.� She laughs and said that should be cool. I wonder if the folks who are reading this will feel the same way.

11:08: I start writing this here diary/blog and begin going over all my press tour notes to figure out what I'm going to include in my big TV Tour Wrapup story. See how hard I'm working, Larry?

11:52: I have 90 minutes before the next session. Now seems like a good time for a nap. I get in the bed, but my mind won't stop racing. Feels like I should be doing something, so I pack a few more boxes. I really need to learn how to relax more.

12:51 p.m.: I order lunch since I skipped that Hell's Kitchen thing. I ask for a turkey club sandwich. I'm getting sick of cheeseburgers. I scarf it down while watching Jack Bauer bark, "Where's the vial?" on a 24 repeat on A&E. I love Jack Bauer. Is it January yet?

1:25: Off to hear Brad Garrett talk about his new Fox sitcom, 'Til Death. The show looks like a winner. Brad deserves to shine outside of Ray Romano's sizable shadow for a change.

1:43: Someone asks Garrett how long he's been married. Seven years, he responds. Then comes the kicker: "But we've only been together for three." This Garrett, funny guy.

1:48: Garrett may be white, but he's known for doing a mean Bill Cosby impression. He does it again. We all laugh. We needed that.

1:51: A critic gets up and leaves the room. Like any skilled stand-up vet, Garrett doesn't let her leave quietly. "Ma'am," he says, "it'll get better."

2:17: I'm outside the Ritz-Carlton in the scalding 190 degree heat waiting for the Prison Break session to start. I spy Dominic Purcell, who plays Lincoln, standing against the wall all intense-like. Dominic looks really thin. Like he's been in the joint for real.

2:38: I'm staring at Wentworth Miller's eyes. Hey, I'm a critic. I get paid to observe detail. They're piercing blue. A Paul Newman blue. At least from where I sit. Since I don't have my eyeglasses, they could be muddy brown for all I know. I know two people who are so jealous right now that I'm looking at Wentworth's peepers and they're not. You gals know who you are.

3:03: Miller uses the word "faux" when talking about his tattoo. I like that. He's so smart and chooses his words so carefully. That's rare in La-La-Land.

3:33: I head to my room, deicde to call it an afternoon since I know I'll be up late writing. And writing. And more writing. The bed is calling me. Again. I listen and doze off.

6:48: Time to head out for Fox's dinner party with the cast of Prison Break.

7:28: Dominic Purcell arrives. He still looks as thin as he did a few hours ago. What am I saying? Did I expect him to gain weight in a matter of hours? I'm getting delusional, people. Help me!

7:37: I spot Wentworth for the first time. All of the women at my table swoon. "He's yummy," gushes one.

8:38: It's been a long day. All of us are drained. No one feels like moving. The topic of blogging comes up. One critic says it's a waste of time and no one's reads them. She's wrong, I say, and tell her all about our lovely Daynote. Another swears she's going to fight "tooth and nail" before she let's her editor make her blog.

9:03: I excuse myself for the night. It's time to write and transcribe. A TV critic's job is never done at press tour.

9:08: I begin reading over the day's transcripts and listening to my taped interviews. The X-Files, one of my favorite shows, is on, but I'm not paying attention. I'm in a zone, you know.

11:20: I email my column to my editor. I'm all done for the night. I think.

11:24: I run a hot bath, grab a can of lemonade from the 'fridge. Can't wait to soak for about, oh, 20 days.

11:51: I check the clock. Only seven more hours until my press tour routine starts all over again. 'Night, yall!

Posted by Kevin Thompson at July 24, 2006 2:28 PM