Blogging the TCA

BRUTAL HONESTY Ian McShane and Susanna Thompson from the cast of "Kings."

The nation's TV critics are running on fumes right now, two weeks into the TCA. But Ian McShane? Well, he came to press tour ready to rumble.

During a session to promote his new show, NBC's "Kings," Mr. McShane proved to be unlike most actors who appear on stage here—specifically, he answered questions with complete honesty rather than with the restraint that comes from being overhandled by publicists.

Mr. McShane's first spark came in response to a critic who didn't like the answer producers gave to a question about the setting of the show. The critic was befuddled by producers' admittedly vague explanation that the show is set in the present time—but in a place unfamiliar and unknown to viewers.

"Now you're not making any sense at all," the critic said. Mr. McShane immediately took issue with that comment.

"Excuse me for your ignorant remark," he said. "What do you expect—that it's all spelled out for you now?"

Mr. McShane and the critic exchanged a few more angry words. Creator Michael Green added a bit more fuel to the fire when he jokingly asked the critic something to the effect of, "Do you want to attack us anymore?"

“Knight Rider” might look the same as it did in its two-hour movie premiere earlier this year, but under the hood there are some distinct differences.

Gary Scott Thompson, the series' new executive producer, said the framework of the show, as in the characters, is essentially the same, but the mythology of the series is different from movie “Rider” to show “Rider.”

This includes changes to Mike Traceur’s origin story in Iraq; new characters played by Yancey Arias, Paul Campbell and Smith Cho; and the introduction of “the KITT cave.”

Val Kilmer will remain the voice of KITT, but Mr. Thompson explained that in order to pull the movie into a series, some tweaks needed to be made.

He also hinted at the story arc of season one by posing this question to the critics at the press tour: “Why would you put artificial intelligence into a car?”

As for KITT itself, Ford still remains the standout brand in the series, as KITT will transform into several Ford models. Critics questioned NBC Entertainment Co-Chairman Ben Silverman earlier and Mr. Thompson in this panel about the line of product placement in the series.

Mr. Campbell stepped in and said, “Nobody wants to see an AMC Gremlin transform into an Eagle.”

—Andrew Krukowski

fun times Nancy Tellem, President, CBS Paramount Network Television Entertainment Group, Elizabeth Reaser, star of the new CBS series "The Ex List," Nina Tassler, President, CBS Entertainment, and Simon Baker, star of the new CBS series "The Mentalist" at The CW/Showtime/CBS Television TCA Party.

Imagine Jeff Zucker's brain, filled as it is with synergistic neurons constantly dreaming up new ways to link together various parts of the NBC Universal empire. Now imagine if that brain exploded all over the Oasis garden at the Beverly Hills Hilton, with various Peacock properties popping out all over the place.

That would pretty much describe the scene at NBC's all-star TCA bash. The Sunday soiree was populated with the most random members of the NBCU family.

Hey, it's Janice Dickinson and Tori Spelling of Oxygen walking by NBC News analyst Chuck Todd! There's Ben Silverman giving an interview to NBC's affiliate news feed while Coolio (also soon to be on Oxygen) plays DJ. Or maybe Christian Slater is giving the interview—they're both wearing the same dark-sportcoat-and-white-shirt getup.

The producer of "Kath & Kim" brushed aside questions about reports that her show is undergoing some growing pains.

Entertainment Weekly's Web site reported last week that director Paul Feig has exited the project, a remake of a hit Australian comedy. Australian media also have been pushing reports of behind-the-scenes changes.

Executive Producer Michelle Nader said she's just trying to make the show the best it can be.

"It's very, very hard to get a show right, and we want to get this show right," she said Monday during NBC's portion of the TCA press tour.

"That's the benefit of going straight to series," Ms. Nader added.

She said producers are "changing the look" of the show a bit, opening it up.

"It needs to be a celebration of these characters," Ms. Nader said. "They think of themselves as celebrities. We want to capture that."

—Josef Adalian

If NBC Entertainment Co-Chairman Ben Silverman could reprogram the summer schedule, what would he do differently?

“I wouldn’t have had the Lakers play the Celtics,” he said, as a majority of NBC’s summer debuts, including “Fear Itself,” went toe-to-toe with the ratings-dominating NBA Finals.

If Mr. Silverman had his way, the Finals would have been the Memphis Grizzles against Vancouver, which would be pretty one-sided, considering Vancouver doesn’t have an NBA team anymore.

—Andrew Krukowski

The NBC Decision ’08 panel responded to claims made by Fox News’ Chris Wallace, who said he thought it was inappropriate for opinion-based hosts, such as MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann, to host straight primary coverage.

NBC News President Steve Capus said this strategy was nothing new, and that it drew no fire when Mr. Olbermann manned the anchor station during the 2006 election.

When asked what he thought of Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly possibly helming election coverage, Mr. Olbermann paused before answering.

“It would make it more interesting if Bill was on and did it live,” he said, coyly referring to this video (mature language ahoy):

—Andrew Krukowski

LOOKING AHEAD NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios Co-Chairmen Ben Silverman and Marc Graboff talk spinoffs, comedies and late night.

Co-Chairmen of NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios Marc Graboff and Ben Silverman are here and ready to go.

They've got some announcements:

—"SNL" will start early on Sept.13.

—Oct. 9 will be the launch of "SNL's" live prime-time political series.

—"Life" will air Monday at 10 p.m. for two weeks, starting Sept. 29. "My Own Worst Enemy" will premiere on Oct. 13 in that slot afterwards.

—"30 Rock" stays at 9:30 p.m. on Thursday. "Kath and Kim" takes the 8:30 block.

—Formally announcing that Amy Poehler is moving to a Thursday night comedy. Starring in a show from Greg Daniels and Mike Schur that is NOT a spinoff of "The Office."

—However, NBC, Mr. Daniels and Mr. Schur are still pursuing "The Office" spinoff.

—NBC will be doing the April infront once again.

BACK FOR SECONDS "Chuck" star Zachary Levi and creator Josh Schwartz discuss the show's "guest star crazy" second season.

We've got Josh Schwartz ("Chuck"), Oliver Goldstick ("Lipstick Jungle") and Rand Ravich ("Life"), plus stars of three NBC sophomore shows ... SECRETS WILL BE REVEALED.

9:55 a.m.: Mr. Goldstick: Weather makes it tougher to shoot in New York. "You make the best of it," he says.

9:58 a.m.: Could Zachary Levi's character be killed off? "Next year it will be called 'Morgan,'" says Mr. Schwartz.

9:59 a.m.: Donal Logue will bring a "brash" sensibility to "Life," says Mr. Ravich. And give Damian Lewis time to breathe.

It's an election year, so it's no surprise that the 2008 campaign dominated a panel featuring Lorne Michaels and several cast members of NBC's "Saturday Night Live."

Among the nuggets of election (and non-election) news gleaned from the 30-minute session:

—If Barack Obama were willing to guest host "SNL," would Mr. Michaels say yes? "Absolutely," he said.

—Mr. Michaels said his donation to the primary campaign of Sen. John McCain doesn't color the comedy on the show. "I did give to his campaign. But I give to pretty much any former hosts who run for office," he joked.

—Fred Armisen jokingly defended himself against critics who question the idea of a non-black man impersonating Sen. Obama. "I grew up in a hippie commune," he said. "And things are pretty loose there. My dad told me we really don't know who my mom is."

—Mr. Michaels said Amy Poehler will stay with "SNL" until she gives birth, "which hopefully will be right after the election." The producer said he doesn't expect to lose any other cast members this season. He does plan to add two, or possibly three, contributors to the cast.

—Any more "Laser Cats" in the future of "SNL"? "I think everybody hopes so," said Andy Samberg.

—"Being off the air in an election year was unbelievably frustrating," Mr. Michaels said, referring to the hiatus forced by the writers strike.. "It made me realize how precious it was to just have this job and be on the air."

—Hey, Lorne, whatcha think of the whole Jay Leno-NBC thing? "I so have so little to say about that," Mr. Michaels said, adding later: "I only work there."

PREQUEL The cast of the "Battlestar Galactica" prequel "Caprica" (L-R) Polly Walker, Eric Stoltz, Paula Malcomson, Writer and Executive Producer Ronald D. Moore, Writer and Executive Producer Remi Aubuchon, and Executive Producer David Eick on stage.

Critics love "Battlestar Galactica." That means they should love "Caprica," Sci Fi's upcoming two-hour backdoor pilot that could serve as the blueprint for a new "BSG" series.

But at Sunday's "Caprica" panel at TCA, critics had one issue with producers: Why is this thing a prequel? Won't viewers know what's going to happen?

"The tension comes from the fact that you know where it's going," said executive producer Ronald D. Moore.

"The idea is to say, 'All that you see here is doomed.' There's an ominous (tone)," he said.

Read more and see the "Caprica" trailer after the jump.