Austin360 blogs > TV Blog > Archives > 2006 > July > 16
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Katie, the Rose Bowl and more …
Katie Couric made her press debut as anchor-to-be of the “CBS Evening News” in grand fashion — and fashionably late. More than 15 minutes past showtime, Couric arrived with Sean McManus, president of CBS news and sports, and perched before more than 100 antsy reporters.
My full interview with Couric will be in Tuesday’s TV column in the American-Statesman’s Life & Arts section (and posted on Austin360 and statesman.com).
But here’s a bit of fluff that didn’t fit into the print piece: Our Katie is thrilled to be sleeping past 4 a.m. and is thrilled with her cushy new work hours. When she begins anchoring on Sept. 5, the First Female Anchor of a Network Evening Newscast will be on the job from 10 a.m. until 7:30 p.m.
Very civilized … or very cushy, depending on how your own work day usually goes. Those hours, of course, will blow out the window in breaking news periods.
When Couric decided to end her 15-year tenure on “Today,” she consulted her two daughters, ages 10 and 14, about the changes the family was about to undergo. Apparently, neither girl (whose father, Jay Monahan, died of cancer in 1998) was terribly impressed with their mom’s history-making venture.
“They pretty much said, ‘OK, that’s cool,’ ” Couric said. “I told them we’d be eating dinner later … no more early bird specials.”
In response to a superficial male reporter’s superficial question about what she’ll wear when she ascends the anchor desk, Couric replied with a strained smile, “I’m going to (ABC anchor) Charlie Gibson’s stylist.”
Rose Bowl madness …
CBS held its big star party at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, where our very own Vince Young led the mighty Longhorns to a national championship not too many months ago. I swear you can still hear folks screaming “Hook ‘em” in the stadium.
The field was covered, not with confetti and Longhorns, but with supporting stars of dozens of CBS’s new and returning series. Without name tags, nobody ever knows who the new stars are, so that makes celebrity reporting difficult. Gary Sinise, star of “CSI: New York,” was there for about five minutes, and many members of the cast of “How I Met Your Mother” attended. Big whup.
There was some sort of punt, pass and kick contest designed to make worn-out reporters feel even crankier. Didn’t stay long, though. There’s a geniune heat wave in Southern California.
Usually when SoCal folks talk about a heat wave, they’re whining about 80 degrees. But this is real heat. The temp has been soaring around 100 for the past few days, and, I’m assured, the temp on the field at the Rose Bowl is a good 10 degrees hotter. … Gotta go hydrate.
Today’s word of the day is “Runaway.” Click here to enter the TV Blog contest.
Permalink | | Categories: News coverage
Suicidal sitcom guy, robbing-murdering guy … And CBS hypes with eggs?
CBS churned through a packed day of presentations Saturday afternoon, including a press conference for the new sitcom, “The Class,” which had at least a dozen cast and creative executives present.
Jason Ritter, son of the late John Ritter, was the only fresh face most folks recognized, and he didn’t say much. Good smile, though.
The show is about a group of twentysomethings who were in third grade together and decide to have a reunion. Do you even remember third grade? I don’t, and I certainly haven’t kept up with anyone. But maybe I’m just anti-social that way.
Anyway, the pilot has its moments — like the scene in which Ritter’s character calls up a former classmate, played by Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who is about to gulp a handful of sleeping pills to commit suicide when the phone rings.
It’s a funny bit, in a dark kind of way, but we wondered how funny a deeply depressed, suicidal twentysomething would be in the long haul of a series.
“Well, he’s suicidal and depressed — but in a sitcom kind of way,” Ferguson quipped.
On a less hysterical note, the creator of CBS’s new serial drama, “Jericho,” about the aftermath of a nuclear bomb on a small town in Kansas, says he was inspired by ABC’s landmark TV movie “The Day After.”
“I saw that movie when I was in college,” said Jon Turteltaub. “That was 25 years ago. Seems like a long time since we’ve done a drama about something as timely as nuclear bombs.”
Later, John Wells, who created CBS’s new crime drama “Smith,” was reminded that his show, about a professional crook and his semi-normal home life, sounds a lot like the recent flops “Heist” and “Thief.”
What makes “Smith” different, besides having Ray Liotta as the hero/villain?
“I hope it’s better,” said Wells, who confessed he has always found law-breakers more interesting than law enforcers.
In Liotta’s mind, the professional crook he plays is just like any other hard-working guy — even though he kills a museum security guard in the pilot before heading home for dinner.
“He loves his wife and provides for his kids,” Liotta said. “He just has a ‘jones’ for stealing.”
Apparently, he doesn’t mind a little collateral damage either.
Cracking wise in hype-land
Wanna hear something sad? My favorite tidbit from CBS yesterday was their new advertising campaign, dubbed “egg-vertising.”
In September, CBS will stamp slogans, series logos and air times on 35 million eggs that will be sold in grocery stores. EggFusion, the company that stamps laser coded expiration dates on eggs, is handling the messages.
“We’re egg-cited about this egg-clusive opportunity,” crowed the always imaginative George Schweitzer, president of CBS Marketing.
Among the slogans: CBS Mondays, Funny Side Up; “CSI,” Crack the Case on CBS; “The Amazing Race,” Scramble to Win on CBS; and “How I Met Your Mother,” Find Your Chick on CBS.
Today’s word of the day is “Runaway.” Click here to enter the TV Blog contest.
Permalink | | Categories: Entertainment
