Fancast: Inside TV

Never before in its existance has Showtime been such an important figure in the world of television. Achieving the unthinkable, it's managed to surpass HBO and move to the forefront of high-level scripted programming.

No show is more responsible for Showtime's success than Weeds. During a dark period in the net's history, when fans were riled over the cancellation of Dead Like Me and people were going head over heels for HBO's powerhouse lineup, a little show starring Mary-Louise Parker debuted as the top rated Showtime program in its first ten-episode season.

Far better than The L-Word, Queer as Folk or any of Showtime's previous attempts at original programming, Weeds was a dark comedy unlike any other on television. Taking place in an affluent suburb by the name of Agrestic, the show followed Mary-Louise as Nancy Botwin, a recently widowed single mother who began to sell weed to support her family.

Since its inception, the show has managed to touch on an amazing array of themes ranging from the hypocrisy of suburbia to the morality of parenting to the world of drug dealing.

I had the opportunity to sit down with one of the most fascinating minds in television, Roberto Benabib, executive producer and writer for Weeds.

Nadum: Weeds is categorized as a comedy but do you contribute the stylistic differences to it being being a dark comedy, a satire, a drama?

RB: We see ourselves as free to roam from comedy to drama kind of at will and I think part of that is being on Showtime, part of that is being a single camera show and part of that is having amazing actors who have really finely tuned dramatic chops as well as comedic chops. We try to base our stories on the truth and what we think is real and it leads us into comedy and drama constantly kind of the way life does.

Also, we’re not afraid – we keep saying that some shows that get labeled “Dramadies” are afraid to make it too dramatic because they might not be able to bring it all the way back to the comedy again. We don’t mind going from pure drama and then going straight for pure comedy. I think that’s what differentiates Weeds from a lot of other shows -- the extremes on each end of that rainbow. We'll have scenes that are just as dramatic as anything you’ll find on television and scenes that are just as broadly comical as anything you’ll find on Arrested or 30 Rock or any of the other shows.

Nadum: And you've got Doug who’s one of the funniest characters on television.

Nadum: Speaking to that duality, Nancy, despite being one of the most likable – if not the most likable character on television, she’s obviously a very flawed character. She’s got good intentions, but as a mother…

RB: I think that’s why we like her. I think we recognized that we’re all flawed and that everything is compromised to a point. When you see Nancy compromising and when you see her try to do her best and fail it makes her relatable.

It’s when people are portrayed as too good to be true or too evil to be true, that’s when the audience distances themselves. More to the point the relatability Nancy has when she fails audiences find refreshing, engaging and make her sympathetic.

Nadum: Would you agree that she has a manipulative streak?

RB: Oh I think she’s manipulative, I think she's caring, I think she’s selfish, I think she’s giving. She's different things in different situations. Again, Nancy becomes relatable when we find ourselves as selfish and petty at moment and then giving and charitable and sweet at another

Nadum: How much has having Mary-Louise Parker allowed you guys to write towards that end -- such a complex character.

RB: She’s given us free reign. She is a major dramatic actress, used to be in theater, on Broadway, off Broadway... She's used to complex characters which gives us complete leeway to really take that character into some pretty dark places.

Nadum: And very talented at doing so

RB: Amazingly talented. We call her 'gear change'. She can go through five different emotions almost simultaneously and without words. We’re very proud that some of her finest moments in the show are moments when she’s just physically reacting to something without saying anything

Nadum: She has that unique quality. A demeanor, or disposition about her. Is that something that she carries in from real life?

RB: No, but it looks easy because its so natural but she works incredibly hard on the material in order to get that kind of effect. She’s constantly going over her lines and breaking down the script and figuring out where her character is emotionally any given time.

Nadum: Weeds has some similarities in dramatic content with Desperate Housewives, but you guys go so far above and beyond -- the way you’ve managed to avoid manufacturing drama or falling into the trap of becoming a soap opera.

RB: They’re almost high camp. That’s almost like a twisted children’s story. It’s a very different approach stylistically and in terms of content to the subject of suburbia. We have a drug dealer, she happens to live in the suburbs and we come against that a lot but it’s a show about a drugs and drug dealing and Desperate Housewives is a show about suburban mothers.

Nadum: With the U-Turn storyline. Did you feel like that worked, that you weren’t going too overboard into that Desperate Housewives terrain?

RB: U-turn really was a chance for us to say that her career has consequences. She is a real drug dealer and is in real jeopardy and in real danger and not just coming across lovable familial figures like Conrad and Heylia. but scary characters like U-turn.

I think part of the reason a lot of people may have had trouble with the U-Turn storyline is that they didn’t want to see Nancy in that much jeopardy and that we take as a compliment. It’s like 'Wow that’s very cool.' We like the fact that you've taken our character into heart that you’re really uncomfortable and not digging it when she’s in major jeopardy.

Nadum: How in tune are you guys with the suburban drug scene, the U-Turns, etc? Is there anyone in the writing room with experience or is it generally based on research?

RB: As the show changes from season to season -- season one was just Nancy dealing dime bags to suburbanites -- that was a pretty easy thing because some of us have bought dime bags as suburbanites.

But season two she started growing and that was something we didn’t know about so we did an enormous amount of research. Season three, in terms of the underworld of drug dealing we did even more research. Now Nancy has started up distribution and you'll see that will sort of take us through the end of the season so we had people come in and talk to us anonymously. So each season -- and season four will be no different -- we explore a new aspect of the marijuana trade.

I would say that in the end its probably more an exhaustive amount of research going into all this into the drug angle of the show than actual experience

Nadum: You mentioned season four. All indications are you will be back for a fourth season?

RB: Oh yes absolutely

Nadum: Did you guys already get renewed?

RB: Not officially but it’s pretty much a sure bet.

Nadum: That's great news..

Nadum: One part that’s entered in with both summer school and Mary Kate's character is the religion aspect and some of the hypocrisy involved there. Is that more of a reflection of the suburban image that you’re trying to capture or just part of the story?

RB: There are mega churches and these religious communicates that are becoming more and more a part of suburbia and we just felt it was an angle that hadn’t been dealt with. Being on Showtime, we could deal with it more satirically and had more freedom than we could possibly have on a network, so we thought we should go for it and reflect what’s going on in a lot of middle America.

Nadum: So how much are you loving working for Showtime?

RB: Oh its amazing. One of the great things about Showtime -- and possibly even unlike HBO -- we have political freedom, which is something – I'm not saying they have it on HBO -- but I don’t necessarily know that they do either.

Bob Greenblatt has given us the freedom to say whatever we want, to be political, to get in there and make some pretty daring and pretty controversial choices when we tell stories. And that’s been amazing, the ability to write and not have anyone say no you can’t do this or that.

Nadum: A lot different than Ally McBeal?

RB: [Laughs]. Very different. Although that was fun too.

Nadum: After working for Showtime, you think you could go back to network television?

RB: I'm so spoiled and if you talk to any of the other writers on the show they’ll tell you the same thing. I understand now why the David Milch’s and the David Simon's stay with HBO. There might be a bigger audience and as consequence a lot more money on network TV -- and I'm not saying I would turn something down -- but at the same time I have to say it would be not be my first choice.

Nadum: And you guys are doing -- I've had this argument over and over. You guys are producing a much better product than the film industry.

RB: I think again it’s the freedom to do something truly creative. Films cost so much money and have to appeal to so many different people that they’re so watered down by the time we see them that you’re not getting anything from them. I mean I think its almost as important when people hate something like as much as they love something. Films -- you look at them and you don’t even want to see them. And if you do see them you forget you saw them because they're just not stirring any kind of passion; positive or negative and it's just really sad.

I think that’s born out in the fact that TV shows are outselling films on DVD. People are going out and wanting to buy shows on DVD and forsaking wanting to buy movies. I think the TV sector of the DVD business is keeping it afloat.

Nadum: The TV vs. Film DVD figures are stunning. Somewhat on the topic, do you guys have the On Demand numbers yet?

RB: No, I don’t know about those. I know they’re high, because pretty much everyone I talk to watches it On Demand.

What they like to do, they’re so used to doing it on DVD is that they like to let them pile up so you can just resolve the cliffhangers right away. The people I know just who came to the show late, literally devoured the DVDs. People really like that momentum.

We look at the show like a novel with chapters. Each season is a new novel and each episode is a chapter. People are starting to like these kind of shows -- not just Weeds -- and starting to treat the DVDs as you would read a novel. Three chapters tonight, another two tomorrow.

Nadum: The David Simon Formula.

RB: Yeah, exactly. It's no wonder those guys are all novelists and so well suited to the medium.

Nadum: Were you guys inspired at all by what he did with The Wire.

Yeah, we’re inspired by what he did on The Wire, we’re inspired The Shield. We’re inspired by good television and not only inspired but challenged.

When you see really great work like The Wire it challenges you to do great work and not take shortcuts so as to avoid breaking a story that’s been done a million times. Let’s find a new way to tell that story, let’s surprise the audience, let’s do something different. Good television seems to inspire us. There are a handful of shows that we all love out there, let’s try and be as good as them.

Nadum: It’s almost become an evolution that started with Oz, The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, where so many writers and artists are taking their work to a completely different level and we keep getting better and better shows.

RB: It’s really terrific. And we feel like one of the cool things about us is that the most of the work that we find interesting right now in television is being done in the hour-long dramatic category, shows like The Wire and The Sopranos and stuff like that. So if we can bring some of that quality into a half-hour that would be awesome. Our goal is to try and bring the standards the qualities that go into the The Sopranos and The Shield and The Wire and to try and bring that level of craftsmanship to half-hour comedy.

Nadum: Obviously Weeds could work as either a half-hour or an hour long series. Was that a tough decision coming in?

RB:No, because a lot of us had comedy training and had worked in half-hour. And people today have so little time to spare, they're working so hard, they're going out at night and they have the internet and so many things pulling at their attention, that if you can tell a great story in 25 or 30 minutes that’s totally fulfilling, I think that’s great.

And especially as people start downloading them on their iPods and stuff, we become very iPod friendly. I think we’re one of the most downloaded TV shows on iTunes.

Nadum: You were ranked #9 this morning and are steadily in the Top 10.

BR: Simply for that reason, hopefully because the show is good, but also because each episode can be devoured in a very short time and people can get what they want and move on.

Nadum: We're living in the golden era of television.

RBIt’s great. It’s really nice to be part of this Showtime resurgence. I’d like to feel that we were the beachhead that then allowed shows like Dexter and Brotherhood to then come on and be terrific but it's really wonderful to be a part of what’s emerging as Showtime’s real moment.

Nadum: You guys were The Sopranos for Showtime.

BR: And it makes us very proud.

Nadum: So what are your favorite five shows on TV today?

BR: The Wire definitely. The Shield, Flight of the Conchords... Nip/Tuck and Dexter.

Nadum: What’d you think of The Sopranos ending?

BR: You know, I thought amazing television, I don’t think there’s ever been better television but I don’t think it’s the best TV has ever done.

One of the things about The Sopranos that I found a little frustrating is that as it went on and on, David Chase’s whims got more and more mercurial and storylines that he started he just dropped. Then he’d spend endless amount of times on dream sequences. I found that he was meandering a bit too much for my taste as the show continued. I thought that first season especially, when Livia was alive there was really vigorous storytelling. But after she died and the show went on and on I thought that he was possibly getting a little bored and the storytelling was getting lax and meandering, not firing on cylinders the way it had previously.

Nadum: He very much strayed from the 'visual-novel' approach.

BR: And there was a little hubris there too. I don’t think he cared whether we the audience were satisfied or not. It was his own little play toy and he was only going to worry about amusing himself -- which is wonderful, but I stopped watching after while simply because I felt that he was just interested in following his whims and his whims got a little too lackadaisical for my taste.

Nadum: At the same time, there's that fine line of telling the story you're going to tell regardless of the audience's reaction and simply trying to amuse yourself.

BR: Yeah and you’ll find our storytelling is vigorous. It may not be your favorite story. It may not even be a story that you find as particularly compelling as another story we’ve told. But we try not to meander and we try not to sidestep and kill time and that’s what I felt he was doing kind unapologetically towards the end of the run.

Nadum: Well you guys are doing fantastic work. Before I let you go, can you give us anything on the rest of the season?

BR: What I can give you is this. It’s gonna be huge. This year’s season ender in terms of our universe, the Weeds universe, is going to be a biggie and probably make last year’s season ender look tame.

Nadum: Are we talking cliffhanger?

BR: I wouldn’t call it a cliffhanger; I would call it a momentous event.

Nadum: Are they already shot and cut?

BR: They’re already shot and cut.

Nadum: Thanks so for taking the time, it's been a pleasure and we're all looking forward to the rest of season three.

BR: Thank you.

David Simon is one of the most important and striking voices in contemporary American culture. During Simon's 13-year career at the Baltimore Sun, he penned the Edgar Award winning account of the Baltimore City Homicide Division, Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (which later spawned the NBC series).

From there, Simon, along with The Wire co-creator Ed Burns, wrote The Corner, a 1997 New York Times Most Notable Book of the Year, also the basis for an HBO miniseries.

But topping all of his accomplishments is HBO's The Wire, a sprawling, epic tale about the decay of the American city. The Wire is considered among the modern classics of our time, with the New York Times commenting, "If Charles Dickens were alive today, he would watch The Wire. Unless, that is, he was already writing for it."

With season four set for release on DVD December 4th and season five debuting on January 6th, 2008, I had the opportunity to go one on one with Simon, starting with a discussion about season five its focus on the media.

Fancast: At what point did you see The Wire going from a story about the war on drugs to an epic about the American city?

Simon: We had the intention to depict Baltimore, going to other pieces of the city, slicing it into different pieces. Ed Burns, Bob Colesberry (RIP), Nina Noble and I were having these conversations while forming season one, what to do next year, how to set up the port story.

Having said that, we didn’t talk to HBO until we presented season and told them we were going to put the Barksdale story on the backburner and going with a different theme.

At that point I had the open conversation with Chris Albrecht and Carolyn Strauss that said, 'Look, we’re going to build a city.' They didn’t guarantee us five seasons, we only knew we would get two at that point, but the presumption had to be if we do get the five what are we going to build.

Then the writers internally began having conversations even at the beginning of season two about what other themes we wanted to explore. Ed was very strong for education, because he worked seven years teaching public school in Baltimore.

I wanted to do the media and I knew that had to wait for the end. And we knew that to do education and the media properly we had to introduce the political component and the implication of reform. That became an inevitable season three.

Fancast: Were there any other themes you thought to explore?

Simon: We threw it open to all the writers and asked what else is there. Are there are other things that would not start feel cyclically and thematically redundant?

Everything was either shot down because they'd make the show feel long in the tooth and we wouldn’t be breaking that much new ground. The courthouse, big hospitals, medical care. And if it was something we thought was new thematically we didn't have the ability to achieve the proper research in the time that we were going to be off the air.

We thought to do a season on immigration. Baltimore virtually no Latino presence till about ten years ago. And now there's a very strong central American-immigrant community in Baltimore. And that would be something great to explore, but by the time we thought of it we had already sold the last two season arcs to HBO and we didn’t have a big enough window between any of the seasons to properly do the research into a culture that we’re foreign to. So we decided on five organically.

Fancast:: In terms of season five, can you speak to your thoughts on the media, its role in marginalizing places like West Baltimore, North Philadelphia, East St. Louis, etc., and the state of traditional media right now?

Simon: I think we proved ourselves -- newspapers, the print media -- to be as ridiculously susceptible to raw capitalism and market forces as anything that we critiqued thus far in The Wire.

The newsroom where I used to work (the Baltimore Sun) had 460 people. Now it has 300. And there are people out there who just don’t care. They’ll make more money putting out a mediocre paper than they would putting out a better paper. They know this. It's their equation. They’re quite content with mediocrity.

And within that culture we have people that are saying, ‘oh no, we’re going to do more with less,’ which is one of the great lies of the 21st century. What it means is we’re going to less with less. And that’s the nature of what journalism is becoming.

Fancast: How do you distinguish between the good and the mediocre?

Simon: You see these sort of 'we gotcha' stories, bite sized morsels of outrage, half-assed scandals. No one is tackling big problems. That kind of ambition is gone. When I went into journalism school, which is over 20 years ago now, high end journalism seemed like it was growing by leaps and bounds in its ability to assess the most delicate and ornate contradictions in society.

You look at some of the coverage Watergate and some of the examinations of political infrastructure that followed on the part of high end papers. It was very impressive and there was every reason to believe that it was become more so, that newspapers were going to become more serious and instead the opposite happened.

Fancast: Why?

Simon: At some point, Wall Street found the industry. And instead of being sheltered in a series family owned companies, the newspaper chain entities, which are beholden to stock holders and share prices, began buying them up. At that moment when Wall Street raised its hand, that was pretty much the end.

Newspapers became vulnerable and it was only exacerbated by the fact that no one I ever saw at any of the newspapers -- with the exception of maybe of The Wall Street Journal -- anticipated the internet.

Fancast: The failure of law enforcement, the death of the working class, the impotence of reform, the inequity of the education system -- how much can you really blame on newspapers?

Simon: I’m not blaming the newspaper for the origins of the problem, the origins of the problem are a complete lack of social policy. Our social framework is "Can I get I promoted now, can I make a buck off it?" The entire country right now is like a pyramid scheme with no other ethic or social framework behind it.

So obviously there are a lot of forces at work. I’m just saying the media, which is supposed to be the assertive watchdog of the political and social culture, the last hope of reform -- they're not here anymore.

I think The Wire is dealing with it in proportion in the sense that it's the last season. After you've seen the the institutions themselves are incapable of reform, after you've seen the political process is incapable of introducing reform than the last question is, "While this going on, what are we paying attention to and why?'

What happened to the people who are supposed to be sounding the alarm? While the unions die, while the jobs disappear, while the political infrastructure dispatches one reformer after another, while the police department and the school system and every other agency create systems to deny the obvious – that they’re not doing their jobs anymore – while all this is happening, what was the external monitor doing and paying attention to?

And to that extent and only to that extent, yes the media is culpable. They had their job to do and they’re not doing it.

Fancast: As far as how bad it got – that pyramid scheme -- do you think it was ineptitude, self preservation or was this a calculated maneuver by those that set our policy to stay atop the pyramid?

Simon: I don’t think that it's that anyone had a plan to do this. People were simply thinking short when they should have been thinking long.

For example, if you're talking about education. No child left behind? It's a lie. Children are being left behind in draconian ways now. But there’s manufactured test scores at the first and third grade levels to show that politicians, that school boards, that administrators are improving things, making them better.

And by the time the kids get to sixth and seventh grade the test scores tumble. Because the system isn't actually intervening in any meaningful way. They're juking the stats. They're teaching the kids how to take the tests in first and third grade and they can't sustain it beyond that. By ninth grade in these school systems the kids aren't even in class. So there's that lie.

Meanwhile, the police department is pretending they’re locking up the right people when they’re just making stats and not solving crimes or protecting real estate. The Baltimore PD has become dysfunctional as have many police departments across the country. The drug war has in fact destroyed good police work, not enhanced it.

They’re just harvesting stats out of self preservation of the institution. You can’t be soft on drugs. Is there a political party that has the courage to re-examine the fifty year disaster that is the drug war? There are more Americans in prison than ever before and they are less violent than ever before. We’re not putting away more violent criminals. The numbers don’t show that. We’re putting out away non-violent criminals at an incredible rates. We’re putting away drug mules and mid-level dealers, street level dealers, runners.

And there are political leaders who have fashioned entire careers on the basis of these falsely improving stats. So it’s a combination of the personal ambition of the people atop these institutions, the people who are dependent upon the perception of how these institutions are running -- coupled with the fact that there’s money in this stuff.

There’s money in 'No Child Left Behind,' there’s money in letting neighborhoods go down in the inner city to the point that they’re uninhabitable, inhospitable to normal life and then buying office real estate and 'rebuilding America.' They can’t fix the culture of the ghetto but they can sure can buy off the real estate and make a profit off it.

Fancast: And at the same time, everytime Bunny takes a step in the right direction his programs get obliterated. The final scene of season three where he's looking at the rubble of Hamsterdam -- the scene at the end of season four after the pilot program gets shut down, Bunny says something to the effect of 'Every time I open my mouth, I'm telling people what they don't wanna know.'

Simon: It’s political fear, it’s political self preservation, wanting to win the next election or get the bigger seat. A combination of fear and dishonesty and ambition and profit. And the truth is a very frail creature compared to those things.

Fancast: The perfect storm.

Simon: Yes. And I don’t think we have the wherewithal as a people anymore, we certainly don’t have collective courage to demand better from our institutions.

The Wire is Greek tragedy. It’s literally like standing up and demanding better of your Gods for the average American.

With Jerry Seinfeld working on his new flick Bee Movie, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss walking the pickets and Michael Richards busy attending Klan meetings, the Seinfeld cast has been remiss to do publicity for this week's release of 'Seinfeld - The Complete Series.'

In his swan song before moving full-time to the Metro Section, Louis R. Carlozo of the Chicago Tribune had a chance to sit down with Jason Alexander:

Q Some friends joked I should riff on your "opposite" episode of "Seinfeld" and ask the opposite of everything appropriate.

A [Laughs.] That's good!

Q So ... should I ask you to describe your most recent sexual experience in detail?

A [Laughs.] Either way, it's a good story.

Q This megaset will give "Seinfeld" fans another chance to rehash the infamous finale, which some viewers loved, others loathed. What's your take on it?

A It's weird from the inside. I felt there were really great things about it. We were a really unsentimental group, but we always did love our bench of players -- people like Wayne Knight [Newman] or Partick Warburton [David Puddy], or people who became big successes off the show, like the Soup Nazi [played by Larry Thomas]. The way [co-creator] Larry David found to get everyone on who had been part of our success over the years was poetic. And the fact we had these four characters who were the most selfish people on the planet getting what they deserved? That was great. But as a story it was a mishmash.

Q Was another approach ever considered?

A Jerry [Seinfeld] had once pitched a way for the show to end -- it would be a regular episode, and we would be in the coffee shop afterward talking and talking and talking until we ran out of things to say ... and Jerry would say, "That's enough."

Q OK, here comes the "Beatles reunion" question. How do you handle people wanting a "Seinfeld" reprise?

A It comes up all the time. Could it happen? I don't know. There are a number of factors, and one of them is what the expectation would be in terms of how we would get back together -- and you thought people hated the finale? Plus we are all 10 years older, and we look it. They [the main characters] were juvenile and selfish; who would want to look at them now? Plus there is a real practical sense for all of us not to want to have the rest our lives defined by the show. Even Jerry in his standup act doesn't necessarily love the "Seinfeld" questions -- he'd be a lot more interested in "Bee Movie" questions. I might be the most realistic one in the bunch when I say, "We can't top this, guys."

Q But you do flirt with it, right?

A We talked about doing a final scene for the DVD where we come out of jail and go to the coffee shop -- Michael Richards [Kramer] had come out all tattooed and become a rough rider; Julia Louis-Dreyfus [Elaine] was a lesbian; I had a sex change ... and Jerry was exactly the way he was. And he would say, "Boy, that was rough."

Q With Joe Torre out as Yankees manager, any guess how that would've played into "Seinfeld," because George Costanza worked for the Yankees?

A My best guess is George would be angling for the job. He clearly has the expertise to lead the team to glory. He'd be in George Steinbrenner's office trying to get his best shot.

Q It's been a year since Michael Richards' meltdown at The Laugh Factory. Have you, Jerry and Julia talked to him recently?

A Of course we've talked to Michael. We adore Michael, and we know where he comes from and where his heart is. What was shocking for all of us was that it appeared he was this closeted racist and he only needed this event to unleash the monster. Nothing could be further from the truth. That night some people were harassing him, and he didn't have the tools to deal with it -- they threw some arrows at him, and he threw some arrows back. And it was a terrible, awful choice -- he knew it the minute he threw the mic down. And to Michael's credit, he has been trying to use the event to find himself.

Q How so? He's definitely been out of the limelight.

A He's been traveling, he's been talking to some deep spiritual guides. He's trying to find some inner peace... I have never felt so close to him as when he began this journey of "Who am I, and what am I, and how do I heal myself?" The thing we were most afraid of is not that the show would be tainted, but that people would look at Kramer and not be able to forget that incident. And it seems to me that people are very wise. I have only met a few people who have not been able to separate Michael from Kramer.

Q You ever get tired of talking about "Seinfeld"? Life goes on, right?

A I have no problems talking about it. The most lovely byproduct of the success of the show is that I've traveled all of the world, without having any expectation of being noticed or recognized -- and I get greeted like family. I was in Ramallah on a peace initiative, and I thought as an American and as a Jew, I'd be greeted with some disdain. But people were coming out to say hello to "George" -- a George they had only heard in Arabic. ... Sometimes I wonder if God blessed me with whatever intelligence I have, or awareness I have, have I squandered it? Then I meet someone who was suffering through chemo, or depression, or the loss of a partner, and they would say, "You guys kept me going." So when you get that kind of reaction you don't think, "Oy gevalt! Not another 'Seinfeld' thing." I'd say, "I'm glad it's there for you."

A DVD adios ...

In an amazing bit of journalistic restraint, the Hollywood Reporter managed to conduct an interview with contemporary comic legend Judd Apatow without talking about the strike.

Among other things, Apatow talks Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared both of which were critically heralded (for good reason) fiscal failures for television and his ability to find success in film:

THR: Based on your difficulty getting "Freaks and Geeks" and "Undeclared" off the ground, is it easier to create a successful movie than a TV series?

Apatow: I could never crack the code on how to make any of these shows successful. I'm really proud of the work we did. It seems to be holding up over time. But whatever that process is to get your show made correctly, and then figure out how to get a good time slot and enough long-term support to catch on, it was beyond me. I think it would be fun to do something on a cable channel. That was probably my mistake, because I think I do better work when I don't have the constraints of network television. That's code for "I'm funnier when it's filthy."

Tonight marks the first of eleven new episodes of the quirky ABC comedy Men In Trees. Star Anne Heche (who met her current love James Tupper while filming the series) and Creator Jenny Bicks gave the scoop on the show and this upcoming season.

Jenny on where she got the idea for the show set in Elmo, Alaska:
It actually came from – this is – my story is that I’m from New York City, but I spent my summers growing up in a small town in Maine, and I’d always wanted to write about this kind of small community world and obviously it’s just kind of the complete opposite from where I come from in terms of writing in terms of “sex in the city,” and ABC had called me because they had acquired the life rights to a woman who published a magazine in Alaska called “Alaska man magazine,” which some of you may have heard of. I doubt any of you subscribe to it. However, it was a single – a magazine for – singles ads for men in Alaska, and they asked me if I was interested in kind of developing that idea and I put it together with this idea of the small town, and I knew I didn’t want to write a matchmaker show, but what I was interested in was writing a show about a woman from New York city, like me, who is a searcher, who is looking to understand relationships and love and put her in contact with this small community of people and have her learn about herself.

Anne on what attracted her to the character of Marin:
Oh my gosh. Well, I really loved that jenny had created a strong, thoughtful woman who was journeying through her life on one specific path and then basically had to start all over again and had the courage to begin her life and her soul searching in a new place and have the courage to begin again with a kind of fresh understanding of, “hey, I thought I knew everything that – I thought I knew what I was talking about, and I don’t and I have to search myself to find again who I am,” and that she was a woman who ended up finding a place and a home for herself where this little town of Elmo became kind of her chosen family and everyone who was there had kind of made a similar decision to be in a – is to stop the life that they were doing and find themselves again there and the community in the sense of community that I think Elmo is a way – Elmo is a way for us – hopefully, as people watch this show to find that there is hope for us to find a place where we belong and that our individual journeys are supported in – by others around us.

Oprah's quest for total TV domination continues when her new reality competition series Oprah's Big Give premieres on ABC Sunday night. The premise? Ten lucky folks are handed a wad of cash with the caveat that they must give it all away. In the end, the one who's done the "biggest giving" will be awarded $1 million. The catch? They don't know they're playing for the million dollars. The show's judges include celebrity chef/Big Give judge Jamie Oliver, and home design guru/Big Give host Nate Berkus, who offered scoop on this original new show.

Jamie Oliver on the judging criteria and determining a winner:
I mean we had some set criteria which was for the judging to give us a guide, which was, you know, creativity, the leadership, the presentation and accomplishments, and they were the main four criteria. But to be honest, it was more of a guide than anything. And I think, as far as any other show I’ve ever seen on the tellie before, it was hard to judge this one, because you were judging on big things. You were judging on them getting to the point – getting to the heart of what the problem or need was, and that’s not always money or a new house or, you know – it’s not always the big things. It’s the intimate things, as well. You have to kind of go to the heart of it, and sometimes it was so close. Me, Malaak [Compton-Rock] and Tony Gonzalez looked at each other, and we were like, Jesus, who are we going to pick, you know, and we just had to go with what felt right.

Jamie on the involvement of Jennifer Aniston:
Jennifer’s a friend of mine. She’s a beautiful, beautiful character. She was perfect to be a part of the Big Give because, you know, that’s her personality. She’s a beautiful, giving person, and everyone – and she’s the same as, in real life, as everyone thinks she is on tellie.

First Bravo looked West for the docu-series The Real Housewives of Orange County, and tomorrow night the network heads East for a taste of The Big Apple’s upper crust with The Real Housewives of New York City.

Two of the show's busy stars Alex McCord, a high powered career woman and mother of two, and LuAnn DeLesseps, a real-life Countess by marriage, whose husband's family was responsible for donating the Statue of Liberty to the City of New York, answer some burning questions about themselves, the new series, and some of their favorite activities.

LuAnn on what it's like to be a Countess:
You feel special and you feel, you know, that it is an important title - which it is very
much so. And there is a certain sense of entitlement, but I’m really an American Indian
from Connecticut. So, you know, I’m just, you know, happy every day opening my eyes
and I have the Count next to me.

LuAnn on the difference between the ladies of O.C. and NYC:
I think they have a totally different life than we do. Obviously living in New York City
and living in a gated community are different. In New York we have - I think the social
life and going out is a lot more demanding. It seems like in California it’s more laid back,
kind of barbecue, hang out at home kind of thing.

LuAnn on the West Coast East Coast rivalry between casts:
I don’t feel a sense of rivalry now, you know. I’m all for women.

Alex on choosing to live in less expensive Brooklyn vs. the Upper East Side where the rest of the women reside.
We definitely made a decision that we would rather live in a $2 million house than a $10 million house because, you know, we can spend that capital elsewhere. And also, the more expensive a home you own, the smaller the market is if you ever want to sell.

Tomorrow night TV sets will heat up with the season four premiere of Top Chef: Chicago. As usual, personalities - and pans - will clash, and tempers will flare. Hosts Padma Lakshmi and Tom Colicchio gave the dish, so to speak, on what their experience has been like working on the show, which foods gross them out, and some scoop on the new Windy City season.

Padma on what interests her about working on Top Chef:
Well I’ve been doing it for three seasons, but I just love food. You know, we’re surrounded by people talking shop and, you know, I’m the kind of girl that talks about dinner as I’m finishing up lunch. So it’s the perfect job for me.

Tom on the caliber of chefs this season:
I think what happens is as the seasons go on, we’re getting better chefs applying. This season you’re not going to find a first year culinary student. You’re not going to find a housewife who can cook. You’re going to find professionals. In most cases, they are running kitchens, are at a sous chef level, chef level, chef cuisine level. Some own their own businesses.

Both on the biggest mistakes made by new chefs:
Tom:
I think they try to do too much. They need to edit or if they removed a few of the ingredients from the dish, the dish is actually a stronger dish. And I think that only comes through - I know I did it in my career. It just comes through experience and confidence. And I think the older you get and the more confident you are, you don’t need to rely on the bells and whistles.

Padma:
I agree. And also, the better the chef the less ingredients they actually use because they know what flavors they want. They know how to achieve that and the flavors are strong and clear, and come through, and aren’t muddled.

A Times interview with House's head doc Hugh Laurie reveals in real life the British actor can be just as difficult as his character:

"I’m a pain in the arse. I meddle. I have ideas about how a thing ought to be played, the psychological details, the truth. Work is almost like a piece of music, and I’m a pain in the arse about music, too.”

Continue reading the full piece, or check out Dr. House in all his moody brilliance with clips from the series right here.

Showgirl Elizabeth Berkley's boots were made for dancing, and that's just why she’s hosting the upcoming Bravo reality competition series Step It Up And Dance. SIUAD – for short – is formatted similarly to it’s network's sister shows Project Runway and Top Chef, with each week featuring toe-to-toe competitions concluding with one unlucky dancer packing up his or her shoes and heading home, and one winner taking home a $100,000 pot in the end.

On how she was introduced to dance:

I was blessed enough to have parents that got me into dance from a very young age. I don’t know if they knew that it was going to be something that I was going to devote my life to. But at first, I think it was just a recreational type thing at the age of four, you know, that other little girls in the neighborhood were doing. When they noticed pretty early on, though, that I had a propensity for it, as well as a desire to do it almost on a daily basis -- which then turned into about 17 lessons a week -- it was me pushing and driving them because they saw the joy that I got out of doing it which, you know, obviously I’ve used it in my professional life.

On what dancing has done for her:

It’s been a profound thing in my life. But at the same time, what’s amazing about it is first of all, for anyone the connection to one’s body - there’s a certain self-esteem that comes from that when you’re in touch with yourself and feeling in your body that’s a strength that you have that no one can take away from you. And the gifts that I think -- whether it’s a boy or girl who’s dancing -- the self-esteem that you get from it, just from having goals and intentions, and the work ethic that you learn from it and the discipline - these are things you can take out into the world, into anything you do in life.

On her desire to participate in the show:

The work ethic that is necessary to become great [at dancing] is something no one can give you. That’s the hours in that studio. And there’s something really extraordinary about that, which is why I really wanted to be a part of this show is -- especially in the world of reality television right now and especially in our world where there’s this kind of strange democracy of fame, if you will -- what I truly love about this show and in particular, a few of the shows that are on Bravo, you know, where it’s really about the artistry. Whether it’s Top Chef or whether it’s Project Runway, or our show where it’s dancers - these are true artists that are expressing themselves creatively. And it’s not just about the entitlement for wanting to be famous.

By Julie Zied
Fancast Editor

Barry Watson has played his fair share of nice guy roles, from Matt Camden, the eldest son of a preacher man on 7th Heaven, to lovelorn Brian Davis on the brilliant-but-cancelled What About Brian, and now, to his current role as Todd, amnesiac Samantha Newly's (Christina Applegate) lovable photographer ex-boyfriend on ABC’s Samantha Who, which returns with a memorable second season Monday night. So what does this father of two and real-life nice guy have to say for himself?

What were you up to during the strike?
Well I just had a son in November, and I also have an almost three-year-old, so I just got to spend a lot of time with my kids, just really being dad for four and a half months, and it was a lot of fun. I got to take them to school and Chuck E Cheese, just doing dad stuff. But you know towards the end it was kind of like ‘uhh, OK, Daddy’s gotta get back to work’ [laughing], it’s tiring running around being a full time dad!

It’s a crazy job.
Yeah, I’ve actually been getting some rest at work the past couple of weeks, it’s been good. It’s funny to have to go back to get work to get rest, you would think it would be the complete opposite.

In the beginning of your career you played some smaller more villainous characters, but you’ve probably become most memorable for playing the nice-guy types….
It’s funny because you know that’s how my career started, guest starring on different things, playing these sort of bad characters, and you know 7th Heaven just completely changed that, and then I had to kind of fight against that for years, playing the nice guy, you know, ‘oh, he can’t do anything else but that’, but with 7th Heaven I was playing a nice guy but it was kind of just one level, and at least I can make Todd a nice guy but make him a little more well rounded, where he’s not perfect. I would be stupid to say I don’t want to play any nice guy roles though, ‘cause that’s where I’ve been making my money for the past ten years. So I’m happy playing nice guys, and a good bad role will come about at some point and hopefully I won’t mess it up!

Do you let your kids watch your work?
Right now I don’t want my kids to see me in anything, but my son who’s gonna be three in May saw me doing an interview on Regis and Kelly or something a couple of years ago, and he was much younger, maybe one and a half, and it just scared the crap out of him. He just couldn’t figure out why I was in the box, he was like 'why is Daddy in the box?' and he really just couldn’t figure it out, he went behind the TV, and didn’t understand why I was in there, and I was all the way in New York, it just freaked him out! [laughing] But I’m sure at some point he’s gonna discover Dad’s on TV…

Well at least you’re playing the good guy roles….
Yeah but then he’s gonna say 'Dad, you’re on TV kissing all of these different women all the time, what about Mommy?' [laughing]

NBC's The Biggest Loser only has two more episodes to shed before the end of the season, and trainers Jillian Michaels and Bob Harper gave the inside scoop on their lives and Loser in an upcoming interview. In the meantime, here's a little snack byte to curb your cravings:

When you guys aren't working out, what are you watching on TV?

Bob: Gillian only watches The Discovery Channel, meanwhile I'm watching American Idol, Lost and Battlestar Galactica.

Jillian: [Interrupting] Until he gets me hooked on them, and then I start watching. I lost my life to Dexter and Lost!

Bob: She really tries to reject it, she's like 'I watch the Discovery Channel', and she will not watch Idol.

Jillian: I will not watch idol, it's the worst show ever, its like bad karaoke!

Tomorrow night The Biggest Loser: Couples winner will be announced on live TV, but not before an unprecedented vote by America to narrow the final four down to three. Trainers Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels have been there through the entire full-sized season pushing contestants to drop those extra lbs and get their lives back in shape. Fancast got the full inside dish from these two on the show and some tips on shedding some extra weight.

What do you guys think about each other as trainers?

Jillian: He’s a great trainer. I mean, he’s - I think that he’s a lot tougher than a lot of people would imagine him to be. And I mean, yeah, he’s a great guy, obviously. He’s very nice and very caring. But when he gets in the gym, he’s definitely all about business.

Bob: I think Jillian is probably one of the best trainers in not only the country, but the world. And I’ve seen them all. And she actually has made me become a better trainer. It’s always been fun being in the gym with her because it’s like when she and I are in the gym together, it’s like a dance off. She’ll be with one of her contestants and she’ll just be like, you know, doing something crazy with them. And I’ll be like oh, okay. Well I’ll show - I’ll try that and I’ll raise you one.

Is there any behind the scenes stuff that the audience doesn't get to see?

Bob: I just wish that they really could see that kind of commitment that Jillian and I put in because we’re not only in the gym with them. I mean, we are there on-camera, off-camera. I mean, Jillian’s team is at her house and my team is at my house. I mean, we just - we have this relationship throughout the whole season and it’s just - it’s so much more than just Jillian and I in the gym training with each other or us in the kitchen cooking up meals together. We’re completely bonded with our contestants.

Throughout all of the different format changes each season - individuals, couples, families - which is your favorite?

Jillian: I do appreciate the fact that you need to help the contestants work on their interpersonal relationships and deal with their codependency, and their unhealthy behavioral patterns within the context of their relationships. But as the game began to dwindle down and family members began to go home, it allows you - or I’ll speak for myself. But it allows me to work one-on-one with them and they don’t have the security blanket, they don’t have that person to run to - that comfort zone. I like for them to be uncomfortable. I like for them to be vulnerable and raw. And to me it helps them open up and it helps them become a new person which is hard to do when you define yourself within the terms of your relationship. So I like working single.

Bob: I like working singles, too. I mean, there was an example on the show when the brothers -- Mark and Jay -- when they finally separated at one point, you really saw Jay kind of flourish. And so it just seemed like he wasn’t in the shadow of his brother.

By TaraDi
As Seen On TV
Comcast.net

After the long strike hiatus, David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel (Dr. Temperance 'Bones' Brennan) are back to their bantering ways on Fox’s forensic procedural Bones. While the first half of the show’s third season introduced some unexpected changes, including an arc involving a serial killer as well as the ever-smoldering duos first kiss (ok, it was because of a bet under the mistletoe, but it still counts!), there’s even more to look forward to with six new episodes starting tonight at 8:00 pm. David Boreanaz, a.k.a. Special Agent Seeley Booth, recently chatted with reporters on a conference call to welcome back his show. During the talk, Boreanaz passionately defended the health of his beloved Bones, what he likes and dislikes about the show’s current direction and yes, that big ‘ole kiss!

How did the writer’s strike affect you as a producer on “Bones”?

David Boreanaz: As far as production, I don’t take part in that in as far as day-to-day line producing and the budgets. But as far as the creativity with storylines and working ideas internally…and thinking about ideas that I can bring to the table, I’m starting to do [that] and you will see that in upcoming episodes.

Emily recently said she was cautious about Booth and Bones getting together. What are your thoughts about them being together?

DB: I think they already are. I don’t think they were ever apart. The function of the relationship is the function of the show in a lot of ways. These two characters drive these plotlines and shows. The kiss for example, at Christmas, was a dare and they both knew it was coming. It brought them closer but it won’t affect them greatly, but they know it happened and it happened smartly, the way they did it. We will start putting ourselves in those situations and areas but we won’t go to a place where it’s the whole nine. We’ll just keep teasing.

Reports have her possibly preparing to leave CBS Nightly News after consistently coming in third behind it's other network competitors. In this video interview, Katie Couric discusses the supersaturated competitive news landscape.

Fancast Interview: Daisy De La Hoya From Rock of Love 2

Rock of Love 2 aired last night and, although Ambre Lake was crowned the reigning rock queen of the show, breakout star Daisy is a force to be reckoned with. We talked to the ingenue as she was arriving at her home in Denver from a long flight across the nation. She chatted with us about Tina Fey mocking her on SNL, on the fact that, yes, she really is related to boxer Oscar De La Hoya, and on how she would feel about Rock of Love 3: The Daisy Edition. Oh and did we tell you she's writing a tell-all book about her time on the show? Sign us up!

Can you tell me about the family connection you have with Oscar De La Hoya?
I had a really rough childhood. I never knew my dad until I was about 12. So i had no clue I was even related to this person. As far as not talking to my dad, that's something I couldn't control. I'm okay with that though. I didn't really know him, but when i was 17 I was just like "I don't want you in my life" and I parted ways with my mom when I was 20. Then, because of the show that side of the family contacted me. My aunt, who's actually 26, contacted me, she's Oscar's sister. She contacted me and said she was a big fan of the show. This whole thing was amazing. I got in contact with my dad, so I'm trying to have them know that I'm there, but as far as a real relationship I'm not really sure. At this point, I'm trying to focus on my career. I will be attending Oscar's fight on May 3rd, it will be kind of like a family reunion.

Whose posters were on your wall while you were growing up?
When I was younger I'd go to the store and buy these magazines called Metal Edge and Hit Parader and--well sometimes I'd steal them because I couldn't afford to buy then since I was a little kid--but I had a whole wall plastered with Motley Crue, Poison, Ozzy, like every single band ever, and then I'd have the occasional Teen Bop with Jonathan Taylor Thomas, but mainly rockstars.

Tell me some shocking things that viewers don't know about you
I'm really into reading and I journal a lot. I love writing my feelings down. My favorite books: the book that's inspired me the most was Dirt, by Motley Crue. I really like Jenna Jameson. I really like a lot of autobiographies. I love to hear about the successes of people; how they went through a really hard experience and ultimately gained success. I love Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolf.

Get under the skin of the baby-faced star of Bones, John Francis Daley, in this video interview where he discusses his work on the show, being a keyboardist in a band, and his previous role on the cult favorite Freaks and Geeks. After the interview, why not watch John in action as Dr. Lance Sweets in full episodes of Bones?

By Debbie L. Sklar
Fancast.com

Marcia Wallace will be indelibly etched in our memory as the lovable yet lovelorn receptionist, Carol Kester Bondurant, on The Bob Newhart Show. Wallace, 65, helps rediscover this comedy classic, 48 episodes of which are Fancast [watch here], including her all-time favorite. The actress, whose Comedy Hall of Fame-worthy credits include Bewitched and Love American Style, also spoke about her Emmy-award winning turn as the voice of Bart Simpson’s teacher, Mrs. Krabappel, on the The Simpsons, another popular Fancast series. [Watch full episodes here.] Off-camera, she has survived breast cancer and personal tragedies with "wit, humor and a positive outlook.” Says Wallace, "I ignore all the doomsaying nonsense. I'm in a business where the odds of ever earning a living can be a zillion to one, so I know it can be done. I know the impossible can become the possible." Enjoy as this classy lady talks classic comedy.

Q: What was your favorite episode among all those Bob Newhart Shows?
A: “The Crash of 29 Years Old,” that was pretty funny, ultimately the story worked. I was kinda of a little trollop on that show; I ran off with Howard, had a thing with Mr. Carlin. I call it the Sushi episode; and I saw it for the first time just a year ago. Another all time favorite is the one where Bob gets sandbagged while doing a talk show. That could have taken place today with the way tabloid journalism is. [watch the show here]

Q: From one “receptionist” to another, what do you think of Britney Spears’ small role on “How I Met Your Mother” recently? What would Carol say?
A: ‘Ah, it’s a good gig.’ I don’t think Britney needs the money; it’s a phenomenon. I like to think that I brought something new to the table in my role. Prior to then, secretaries/receptionists were looking for a husband. I came along and was a working woman, who was good at her job and I liked it.

Q: What made “Newhart” such a hit?
A: We were a quiet hit, not like “All in the Family” ... we weren’t life changing. But I do think it’s a show that holds up better than others.

Bob Odenkirk and David Cross, the genius hosts (yes, genius!) of Mr. Show have teamed up again for an upcoming HBO comedy pilot, David's Situation where Cross plays a washed up comic who leaves Hollywood to live in the burbs and write for an in-flight airline magazine. Vanity Fair has an interview with the duo:

VF Daily: David’s Situation sounds very different from Mr. Show. Are you worried about not living up to the expectations of your longtime fans?
David Cross: Not really. I hope people aren’t expecting Mr. Show 2.0, because they’re going to be disappointed.
Bob Odenkirk: I’m not intimidated by people’s expectations of us anymore. I probably should be, but it just doesn’t matter to me as much as it used to. I feel like this show is really solid, and it’s already a lot stronger than Mr. Show was in its first season. It took us about three seasons to really capture the rhythm and comedy tone of Mr. Show, but David’s Situation already has a strong comedic voice just with the pilot episode.

No chance you’ll get bored writing for the same character again and again and again?
BO: No, not at all. Because that character is based on David. I like to compare it to The Jack Benny Program or The Burns and Allen Show, or any of those classic TV shows where the lead was pretty much playing himself. It’s not realistic—it’s still a comic character—but David is doing a version of himself. He’s David Cross, standup comic, but it’s a fictionalized, heightened version of himself.

Just how much of this show is based on reality?
DC: The first episode is entirely made up. But I’m sure that as we continue to do this, it’ll begin to reflect our experiences. There’ll be episodes devoted to those adorable, cherubic, anecdotal experiences we’ve had in Hollywood. And we both love Hollywood.

Check out BO and DC's TV chemistry in action in this full episode of another absurd series: Arrested Development.

Amanda Byram is busy. Between finishing up her hosting duties for Paradise Hotel 2, shooting a show with Dennis Miller called Grand Slam, and working on a new show with VH1, her plate is very full. We caught up with the Irish beauty after her long flight back to LA from Europe. She talked about the racy behind-the-scenes shenanigans on Paradise Hotel 2 and what's the sexiest thing a guy has ever done for her. [Watch full episodes of Paradise Hotel on Fancast. ]

Do you watch Paradise Hotel when it comes on?
I do. Funny enough, I’ve actually seen most of it already. On Fox Reality there’s a thing called Reality Remix so we have to tape our interviews ahead of time because I might be out of town. I’ve had to watch a lot of them back to back before they air. I’ve watched more or less all them, except for the last two actually. I’m going to have to watch them today because I have to work tomorrow. I’m doing a show about the 25 steamiest reality TV…

What’s one of the steamiest moments of the show that comes to mind?
There are so many. A lot of the Tanya and Mike episodes were pretty steamy. And, steamy not so much but shocking was Zach coming back. There were some raunchy moments rather than steamy…one of them being Stephanie and Ryan in the shower doing some things that you wouldn’t want your mother be seeing you doing.

Last night's kickoff party for the Butterfly Ball at the Saks Fifth Avenue Men's Store in Beverly Hills was crawling with male TV stars who were, ahem, very easy on the eyes. The event, which was meant to raise funds for the Chrysalis Butterfly Ball (a charity event that provides support for the homeless), included among its attendees Eric Dane and Justin Chambers of Grey's Anatomy. We cornered Jason Lewis and tried to get a juicy Sex and the City scoop, but unfortunately the cast seems to be sworn to secrecy. "I can't really talk about that, but I will tell you that the coolest thing that happened on set was that we all watched the sunset once," he said. This doesn't give us too much info but sure makes us look forward to watching Jason as Samantha's boy toy, Jerry Smith Jerrod, in the new Sex and the City film, scheduled for release in May.

Watch the trailer, interviews and clips of the Sex and the City film, on Fancast.