Austin360 blogs > TV Blog > Archives > 2008 > July > 14
Monday, July 14, 2008
‘Prison Break’ leaves Dallas for L.A. and other Foxy news
Good news: The “Prison Break Breakfast” featured coffee and actual food, no rocks and water. And there were plenty of cast members circling around to hype the new season, scheduled to launch Sept. 1 on Fox.
In case you’ve already forgotten about “Prison Break,” it got hit hard by the writers’ strike, was pulled off the air prematurely and thus has been gone forever. When last we saw them, brothers Michael (Wentworth Miller) and Lincoln (Dominic Purcell) were finally free from that Panamanian hell hole of a prison.
The new season finds the brothers out to completely expose the conspiracy that originally framed Linc for murder and to seek revenge at the highest levels. All cleaned up and citified, Michael heads to Los Angeles where, shock of shocks, he learns that his lady-love Sara is alive - not decapitated, as previously shown. Whose head was that in the box anyway? Maybe we’ll find out.
Acclaimed director Kevin Hooks, who started life as a kid TV star on “The White Shadow,” remains at the helm, as he was when the second season was filmed in Dallas and Fort Worth.
“We’re moving to L.A. now, but filming in Texas was a gift in spite of 20 straight days of 100-degree weather,” Hooks said, slurping coffee this morning. “Filming there was a tremendous asset to the show.”
Purcell and Miller were so swamped by reporters and paparazzi that I barely caught sight of them, but I’m happy to report that Robert Knepper, who plays the super-creepy Southern bad guy T-Bag on the show, cleans up really well. He’s surprisingly buff and doesn’t have a Southern accent after all.
The transition from PBS to Fox presentations today couldn’t have been more jarring … rock music blaring by 8 a.m. in the presentation room, gorgeous young pages hopping all around and not a single bald eagle in sight.
After the “Prison Break” critics were treated to a couple of performances by contenders on Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance.” Matt and Kourtni were terrific in their two-step, but Thayne, poor guy, was clunky … probably why he was voted off last week. No idea why he was here today.
Creator/judge Nigel Lythgoe insisted the show isn’t mean-spirited and “nobody is voted out … You just don’t get as many votes as the next person.” Mmm hmmm.
Judge Mary Murphy, known for screaming “You’re on the hot tamale train!” at dancers she likes, conceded that she’s “louder than a vacuum cleaner, a rock band and a small jet,” but she seemed surprised that some folks find her annoying.
Choreographer Mia Michaels, rounding out the defense team, added, “I’m not mean. It’s just tough love. They know I only want them to be brilliant.”
‘Fringe’poised to be the next ‘X-Files’
J.J. Abrams, whose TV credits include “Lost” and “Alias,” has the new sci-fi buzz show coming this fall on Fox. It starts off with a plane landing in Boston filled with dead people. FBI agent, played by Aussie newcomer Anna Torv, is called to investigate.
She is assisted by an aging genius (John Noble), who’s been institutionalized for nearly two decades and the deranged scientist’s son, played by former “Dawson’s Creek” guy Joshua Jackson.
Too confusing? Has Abrams learned anything from the head-scratching over “Lost?”
“Yes, I’m sometimes confused by my own shows,” he said laughing. “This one is an experiment - an overall story with an end game. There’s a bigger arc about the mystery, but you won’t have to watch Episodes 1 through 4 to ‘get’Episode 5. There are separate stories.”
More Fox stuff to come, including a sure-to-be-bizarre appearance by Fox News analyst Karl Rove, so stay tuned.
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First up in Hollywood? A giant rat-eating eagle!
Wouldn’t you just know it? I arrive Sunday for my first day of Hollywood star chasing and found myself perched in a PBS press conference with a humongous bald eagle gripping a trainer’s arm less than 20 feet away.
Those of you who know me know that I am NOT a bird lover. In fact, I’m generally terrified of most feathered creatures, including chickens. But this thing was on a different level, and it kept giving me the beady eye.
Why was PBS hosting a press conference with Anami, a female eagle with a wing span of 7 feet? The new season of the long-running “Nature” series will begin in November with a close look at the personalities and habits of the iconic American bald eagle.
I’ll admit the clips screened for a small band of skittish critics were intriguing, not to mention breathtakingly beautiful.
But Anami, besides being too close for (my) comfort, was creepy on several levels. First, to try to distract the bird, the trainer named Trevor kept feeding her sizable chunks of red meat.
What was Anami’s bloody snacking food? Rats and mice … and after Trevor the Trainer said so, I noticed a long, stringy tail sticking out of the food container that was strapped to his belt. Ick and eeew.
Anami was on loan from the Los Angeles Zoo, where she has lived for 10 years since an injury ruined her free-flying days. She is now 13 years old (probably will live to be 25 to 30) and blind in one eye. And seemingly none too happy about it. Every time she tried to break loose of the tethers that attached her to Trevor’s gloved arm, she flapped her massive wings and nearly knocked the young man over.
“Nature” filmmaker Neil Rettig tried to occupy the audience with tidbits of info such as the fact that Benjamin Franklin never cared for the bald eagle as our national bird. He preferred the turkey. At least they’re less threatening.
PBS’s evening event focused on a new six-part documentary series, “Make ‘Em Laugh,” which arrives Jan. 12 featuring clips from the old days of comedy, some from the new days and lots of interviews with comedy masters such as Sid Caesar and Jon Stewart. Billy Crystal will serve as host.
On hand to talk to reporters about the documentary were Richard Lewis, looking appropriately sad and anxious in a black quilted Nehru jacket; former “Saturday Night Live” and “Square Pegs” writer Anne Beatts; and Larry Wilmore, a veteran of many shows as a writer but currently serving as “the senior black correspondent” on “The Daily Show.”
Lewis recalled his friendship with the late George Carlin after Carlin went into rehab to lick his addiction to pain killers. Lewis said they called each other The Jew (Lewis) and The Gentile (Carlin). It was funnier than it sounds, but mostly because Lewis has the face of a terrified Basset hound.
Wilmore said his biggest comedy influence was Flip Wilson, who gets very little credit in comedy history. And he said he only agreed to do “The Daily Show” if he could have “senior” in his title of black correspondent. You get the feeling there are very few serious moments in a room with Jon Stewart.
And Beatts conceded she was “misguided” years ago when she gently suggested to “SNL” writer/star Tina Fey that she shouldn’t wear her glasses on TV. “I was so wrong,” Beatts said chuckling.
PBS has packed up and gone … this morning (you’ll LOVE this), I’m heading off to what FOX has billed “The Prison Break Breakfast.”
Will we have bread and water? Maybe a little lumpy oatmeal? Sounds intriguing … I’ll report later today, so check back for updates. Fox always serves up lots of stars (few if any birds), so I’ll be on the hunt until the wee hours.
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