Dish of Salt

Day Two: Live From The NBC TCAs


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Alas, the longest day of the year is the not the Summer Solstice. It's day two of the NBC TCA. Today I have twenty-six scheduled interviews.

Three of them were no-shows.

Here's how it all went down...

9:03. I arrive three minutes after my first scheduled interview with trainer, Jillian Michaels from "The Biggest Loser". Traffic was a nightmare and I expect I'll have to apologize for my tardiness. Turns out she never showed up to our interview.

9:30. Two more no shows. Minka Kelly and Gaius Charles from "Friday Night Lights". Minka is running late herself.

9:45 First interview of the day, Zach Gilford and Scott Porter from "Friday Night Lights." The show has become a critical favorite and though its ratings were low it developed a loyal following and therefore was spared cancellation. One of those fans was Rosie O'Donnell who would plug it while she was on "The View". As a thank you the cast sent her a gift basket full of footballs. Scott also filled me in on his role in the upcoming "Speed Racer" film.

10:15 The "Football Night in America" parade continues. This time is Keith Olbermann who is joining the team this year. I know him from MSNBC's "Countdown". I had no clue he was the host of ESPN's Sportscenter for ten years. This is why my crew guys get excited when he walks in.

10:30 The lovely red head, Alicia Witt, who I remember from playing Cybill Shepherd's daughter on the CBS sitcom, "Cybill.". I have no clue why she is here and need to quickly check my notes. I glance at them and then proceed to wrongly ask about her joining the cast of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent." Apparently, she is only doing a six episode stint filling in for Julianne Nicholson who is taking maternity leave. Oops. You can't get them all perfect..

11:00 So as not to make the same mistake twice, I re-check my notes to see what my next interviewee, Jeremy Sisto, is doing on "Law & Order." This time he is actually joining the cast. He was fourteen when the show premiered eighteen seasons ago. That's crazy its been on for that long.

11:15 Sci-Fi Channel is doing a re-imagined version of "The Wizard of Oz" with a more dark, edgy story. It sounds interesting. It stars the cute and quirky Zoey Deschanel as the Dorothy character and Kathleen Robertson, who I remember only from the later years of "Beverly Hills 90210," as the Wicked Witch.

11:30 He was great in "Flags of our Fathers." Now. Adam Beach is joining the cast of "Law & Order: SVU." He says he hopes to change the portrayal of American Indians on TV.

11:45 Does anyone else who watches "Friday Night Lights" think Jesse Plemons looks like Matt Damon's long lost brother?

12:00 Two more stars from the movie "Tin Man" come in. I'd tell you who they were but you wouldn't know anyway. I did see one of them last weekend at an amusement park which is sort of strange.

12:15 So here is where the day turns sour. I was trying to do a nice segment on the cast of "Bionic Woman". I admitted to one of the actors I could not quite recall his part in the pilot which I had watched several months ago. He laughed it off but then I guess he was offended and sent his publicist in to yell at me. My bad memory gets me in trouble. I have watched twenty some pilots. It's a bit tough to keep track of everyone. When the show is a big hit and I do that then you can yell at me.

12:30 A look of horror comes over my face as two gentleman walk in for an interview. I have no clue who they are. Turns out they were producers of one of the returning shows and not actors. Phew.

12:45 The day picks up at least for my crew with Adam Baldwin from "Chuck". Apparently, he was in "Full Metal Jacket" and they have some nice boy talk. Adam and I muse on why "Daybreak" couldn't find a loyal audience and got cancelled.

1:00. Oh goodness no. Not more people from "Friday Night Lights!" At least Taylor Kitsch is easy on the eyes.

1:15 I redeem myself with the Bionic crowd talking to Miguel Ferrer who I do remember from the pilot.

1:30. I think Michelle Ryan, the new Bionic Woman, is the only star I've spoken to so many times before a show premiered it seems like she already is a star. Interesting to note. She just hired a major power player as her personal publicist. The Bionic Woman is definitely on Hollywood's radar.

2:00 The energy level picks up considerable when Zachary Levi who stars in "Chuck" comes in the room. We end up chatting about the screening of "I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry" we both attended. Somehow we got on the topic of Jessica Biel's body in the movie. He asked if he could get her phone number then realized he'd have to compete with Justin Timberlake. So forget it. Loved him. He's full of life and the type of actor you hope becomes a success. Unless of course success changes him.

2:30. Another fun, full of energy guy, Joey Fatone who all of a sudden got on another hit show with NBC's surprise success, "The Singing Bee". He and Wayne Brady have a friendly rivalry going over their similar singing shoes. Joey told the producers he had no interest in being a button up type of host. He wanted to be fun and be himself. It worked. 13 Million folks tuned in for the premiere. A great number for summer.

2:45 I'm sure fans of "What About Brian" are upset that the show was cancelled but they might enjoy Sarah Lancaster on her new show, "Chuck.". Poor girl told me American Airlines lost her luggage two months ago and still hasn't found it. I'm so talked out I get tongue tied at the end of our interview.

2:55 Out in the hallway I overhear new NBC Entertainment Co-Chairman, Ben Silverman telling the cast of "Friday Night Lights" he could try and get his friend Lance Armstrong on the show. Lance is a Texan.

3:00 Back-to-back interviews with more stars from "Chuck". I can barely get my questions out. Will this day never end?

3:15 Steve Wilkos makes me laugh because he is super tan on his bald head. He says it was basically his time filling in for Jerry Springer while he did "Dancing with the Stars" that led to him getting his own talk show. No chair throwing on this show. Steve's a softer, gentler type of host.

3:30 My crew guys perk up when the very sexy Moon Bloodgood walks in the room with her pretty, blonde co-star, Gretchen Egolf from "Journeyman." Proving even beautiful seemingly flawless women aren't perfect, Moon shows off her second toe on her right foot that was longer than the rest of her toes.

4:15 Finally my last interview of the day, Kevin McKidd, star of the new show "Journeyman." We get philosophical about the show's "what if you took a different fork in the road" premise. I think my crew dozes off. They do however perk up when I tell them the last interview was cancelled and we are done! Hallelujah! We survived!

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