By Erik Pedersen
PaleyFest first saluted the acerbic, irreverent and knee-bloodyingly funny "Curb Your Enthusiasm" in 2002. It's likely that back then, few in the room -- including its cast and creator -- figured the show would still be a factor in 2010. But 71 episodes later, it appears there will indeed be further adventures of Larry David and his cast of the put-upon.
The question of "Curb's" future was on most people's minds Sunday during the final night of the 27th annual TV festival. The answer was definitely probably.
Moderator Martin Miller of the Los Angeles Times began the session with an inquiry about more "Curb." But rather than quiz the group about a potential eighth season, he curiously asked whether there would be a big-screen version of the show, a la one-time fellow HBO comedy "Sex and the City." David's look was -- isn't it always? -- somewhere between puzzlement and incredulity.
"No plans for a movie," he said.
And no follow-up from Miller.
It wasn't until late in the session that the question of "Curb's" future came up again. Miller finally asked David, "Are we going to see an eighth season?"
David paused briefly. "I think there's a pretty good chance," he said, as the crowd burst into applause. "We're working on a couple of things."
So much for a definitive answer.
There was only one other reference to a potential continuation. When a crowd member asked whether viewers can expect to see more of Larry's Katrina-refugee roommate Leon -- uproariously played by JB Smoove -- David simply said, "I think so."
It seemed clear that David was uninterested in broaching the subject. He might as well have given the guy that patented Larry David staredown.
The Paley Center for Media's vp and executive director Craig Hitchcock introduced the "Curb" session as "a classic case of saving the best for last." The statement was obvious yet prescient as the six-person panel had the sellout crowd at the 80-year-old Saban Theatre laughing as if they were watching a "Curb" clips reel.
In fact, they did. Rather than the usual screening of a full episode of the evening's honored show, a greatest-hits montage from "Curb" served as the ideal opening act. Everyone has their favorite moments (What, nothing from the Tourette-addled opening night of the restaurant?!), but it was hard to argue with the quality of the selected scenes. Before that was another aperitif: a nugget from ABC's "SNL"-inspired sketch show "Fridays" in which Larry David -- sporting a sorta Art Garfunkel fading 'do -- plays the straight man to Mark Blankfield.
Miller's second question to the panel of David, Jeff Garlin, Cheryl Hines, Susie Essman, Richard Lewis and Bob Einstein (whose character Marty Funkhouser is the only one among them whose first name is different from the actor) was what they thought about the "Seinfeld" reunion on "Curb" this season and whether there might be another one.
"We think it went very well," David said politely. But then he slipped into the Larry David we love to hate and hate to love. "There'll be no more 'Seinfeld' references on the show. That's all over."
Then he put the kibosh on making this a PaleyFest panel about nothing. "I think 'Seinfeld' questions at this point are no longer appropriate."
So the conversation quickly moved to how the various actors were cast on the show and its improvisational manner. Garlin, who plays Larry's obsequious but mischievous manager on "Curb" and also is an executive producer, noted that it began as a mockumentary about putting together an HBO comedy special. He said that on the first day of shooting, David told him, "Let's do this as a series."
He discussed the show's improv style, noting that though there is no scripted dialogue, there is an outline that describes story and action.
Said David, "People come to the set not knowing anything."
That setup suits Garlin fine. "I don't like rehearsal, I don't like memorizing lines," he said. "I just want to do it, just do it."
Hines, who plays Larry's recently back-in-the-picture wife, described the outlines as "a two-line description of a scene." She drew laughs when she said of her audition, "I met Larry, and I liked him immediately." She never expected to get the part because of a lack of experience; in fact, she was working as a personal assistant to Rob Reiner and his family at the time.
But it turned out that they wanted an "unknown" for the role. "It worked in my favor that I had nothing on my resume," Hines said.
Lewis, who recurs as Larry's mega-neurotic and ultrahigh-maintenance longtime friend, got a late start in the proceedings but took and ball and ran with it when he got a chance to speak. He said he got his start on "Curb" because he asked his old pal David if he "could be in two or three episodes of the first season" in 2000.
Throughout the evening, Lewis did his familiar shtick, often reminding the crowd that he's known David since they were 12 and how much he loves him. His manic rants were enjoyable as always, but he wasn't the star of the panel. Not by a long shot.
No, that would be Einstein, the veteran comic and TV personality who made his name as the inept daredevil Super Dave Osborne. True to his "Curb" character as David's superserious "best friend," Einstein's deadpan wit killed. He owned the room with expressionless gripes about how his character is mistreated and later rousted a couple of folks in the crowd during the Q&A session. In between, he had no reservations about delivering a pair of deep-blue jokes -- even though his co-panelists groaned, grimaced and rolled their eyes.
(For the record, both got booming laughs. But neither should even be paraphrased here.)
He also told one of the night's best anecdotes. He said David called to tell him his character's mother would die in the next season's first episode.
Einstein said, "I told him, 'That's true; my mother did just die.' "
After a pause, he said David replied, "I'm not changing the script."
Then Einstein addressed the other thing every fan of the show wants to know: Is the "Curb" Larry David like the real Larry David? "Larry won't like this," he said, "but he's a great guy ... a giving person, a decent person."
David harrumphed. Several panelists noted that he doesn't take compliments well, though he got them from everybody.
That includes Essman, who plays Jeff's profane, often hateful and always unflappable wife. She got a rise out of the crowd when the topic turned to how "Curb" fans react upon meeting her. "People come up to me anywhere -- in an airport in St. Louis -- and beg, BEG me to tell them to go fuck themselves."
The show's characters are famous for their bickering, sniping and general malice aforethought toward one another. Garlin recalled that a wardrobe woman once asked the cast, "Why can't everybody just get along?"
"People see us fighting on TV, but we get along off-camera," he said.
Einstein agreed. In a rare moment of semi-seriousness, he said: "We all genuinely like each other. You can't do improvisation if you're doing it with an asshole."
There were a few mock -- and maybe just a few not-quite-mock -- squabbles among the panelists as they seemed to slip into character, but most simply led to stories. Lewis groused about meeting David for dinner after they hadn't seen each other in months. He arrived early and told the waiter that he would be picking up the tab. David showed up and proceeded to order "about 30 entrees" -- then his cell phone rang.
It was Steve Martin, and it turns out that David had forgotten about poker night. Said Lewis, "He clicked the phone closed and was out of there after about 20 seconds. Never even said he was sorry."
David grinned a little. "Well, that's true," he said. "But when you play poker and don't have a sixth guy. ..."
After the laughs ebbed, he added, "Sorry, Richard."
Rarely has a TV show’s title been more likely to reflect its probable initial audience than “Men of a Certain Age.” It works both ways: Folks who aren’t of a certain age, maybe even a certain gender, might be less motivated to sample it. They’re missing out.
The crowd for Friday’s episode of PaleyFest certainly fit the presumed demo, but it was couples night at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills. And the audience Q&A session proved that women are paying equal attention to what arguably is the TV season’s best new show.
The evening began with clips from series writer/co-creator/star Ray Romano’s (Joe) first appearance as a stand-up comic on “The Tonight Show” in 1991, complete with a Johnny Carson intro. But the laughs were tempered when moderator Stuart Levine took the stage and informed the full house (with closed balcony) that Romano’s father had passed away and that “Certain Age’s” most recognizable actor had flown back east to be with his family. Those who had turned out specifically to see the former “Everybody Loves Raymond” star likely were disappointed, but the show went on with a three-man panel.
Writer and co-creator Mike Royce, also a veteran of the stand-up wars, and co-stars Andre Braugher (Owen) and Scott Bakula (Terry) were consistently funny and insightful in discussing the TNT dramedy. Royce mock bristled at that genre label, joking, “When you say dramedy, people say, ‘Oh, it sucks.’ ” But all three repeatedly referred to what makes “Certain Age” unique in the TV landscape -- words like “real,” “honest” and “believable.”
“I loved the script from the first moment I read it,” Braugher said, with a quick aside that it wasn’t necessarily a great negotiating position. “It was a chance to do something new.”
Discussing an episode in which his character spends lots of screen time dealing with his diabetes, Braugher said: “It’s a real issue -- that’s why I like this show. … It doesn’t pull back from stuff just because it’s uncomfortable for us. I’ll do whatever the script says as long as it’s for real.”
Royce, who also wrote for “Raymond,” was asked about the impetus for the series. “Unemployment,” he deadpanned, before saying that it started with him and Romano going over movie ideas and became a way for them both to “unburden” themselves. He said Romano was worried about being typecast after the phenomenal success of “Raymond.”
“We started wondering, ‘Is this the best my life will ever get?’ Because it was pretty great -- especially for him.”
After the laughter died down, Royce added that they began to wonder if they were just going to be in for “50 more years of, ‘Hey, remember that?’ ”
Asked about the casting process for “Certain Age,” Royce said they saw “lots of funny people and lots of dramatic people, but do we believe they’re really friends?”
The unforced camaraderie among the leads is a hallmark of the show; the guys really seem like they’ve been close friends for 30 years. That gave Bakula a lead-in to discuss his character, Terry Elliott, a long-struggling actor and somewhat flighty playboy who doesn’t take life or its responsibilities too seriously.
“All (Terry) really cares about is his relationship with these two men -- and getting laid,” he said.
Referring to playing a none-too-successful actor and how that parallels the real-life challenges actors face, he said, “It’s the nature of the business -- learning to take that rejection … and turn it into something positive.”
Bakula said he loves being an actor and “isn’t trained to do anything else.” Copping a line from the show, he added, “I’m professionally charming.”
Braugher then discussed his character, Owen Thoreau Jr., a married father who has been working for decades at the car dealership owned by his dad (Richard Gant), a former Los Angeles Laker who is never easy on his son.
“I feel very connected to Owen,” Braugher said. “He’s got a thick soup of relationships — wife, kids, father.” He said of Dad, “People are indignant for me — ‘How can you put up with that guy?’ ” But he added that it’s obvious that Owen’s father loves him, a fact that becomes more open later during the show’s freshman year.
He also likes the “maturation” of the character. “He wakes up during the course of the season,” Braugher said.
Romano plays Joe Tranelli, a recently separated father of two teens who juggles owning a party store, being newly single and having a serious gambling problem. He’s also a scratch golfer who dreams of joining the PGA Senior Tour, something Royce said would be an ongoing story line next season.
He noted that they just started writing for Season 2 this week, so he wasn’t being cagey when pressed about potential plots. He did, though, say the second-season order was for 12 episodes, two more than the rookie year. He said they plan to do some backstory on the three main characters and maybe delve into their families. Owen’s wife Melissa -- played by LisaGay Hamilton, whom Braugher said Friday was his classmate at Juilliard -- is a regular on the show, and his children and parents also get screen time. Joe’s kids and wife also are part of the show, as is -- or was -- Terry’s much-younger girlfriend (Carla Gallo).
Just as Terry decides to try to be a better boyfriend, she pushes him into getting more serious about acting. When he stumbles into a little success and is gone for a while, she bags him. Will there be a reconciliation between the two next season? Royce called the situation “very tricky.”
No matter what ensues on “Certain Age,” expect to continue enjoying the antics of Joe’s bookie, Manfro, a fan favorite. Jon Manfrellotti, who plays the kinda-sorta-maybe mobbed-up bookmaker, was in the audience Friday and drew a big cheer when introduced. What a guy in the crowd later began a question with “I love Manfro …,” Manfrellotti stood up and yelled, “So do I.” Big laugh.
Braugher -- one of the medium’s finest actors, who won an Emmy as Detective Frank Pembleton on the brilliant ’90s series “Homicide: Life on the Street” -- talked about what brings him back to doing TV.
“There’s an awful lot of good writing in television,” he said to applause. “We do typically braver things … much more depth, much more interesting stories.”
He drew a chuckle from the crowd -- and himself -- after noting that all of his previous TV series have been ratings challenged. “I was saying to myself three nights ago, ‘Wow, this is a hit!”
Royce chimed in, “Wait till you see the action figures.” He paused. “Well, it’s ‘Men of a Certain Age,’ so they’re really inaction figures.”
He said the series, which originally was developed as a half-hour, has had great backing from the network.
“TNT was into it right off,” Royce said, adding that brass offered “very few notes,” letting him and Romano pretty much do what they want. But he’s also realistic about the show’s long-term future.
“We’re not doing 100 episodes,” Royce said. “ ‘Men of a Certain Age’ can’t go into their 70s.”
Damn.
Remember when ABC doled out a little show in 2009 about a universal blackout? Well, come March 18, "FlashForward" returns to its Thursday night home. Will viewers stay for the ride?
With the majority of the cast present at the PaleyFest event spotlighting the high-concept drama (which has had its share of problems), the evening was either going to be a massive failure or an informative, fun-filled night. Thankfully, it was the latter. However, a few tough questions were asked and acknowledged, but not to the extent that industry types were hoping for.
With numerous showrunner changes since its September series debut, there were concerns regarding the show's heavy-handed storytelling and its steady ratings decline -- and more importantly, if a second season was a possibility. So when an audience member asked the producers just that, executive producer Jessica Borsiczky and co-creator Brannon Braga went on the defensive.
"You can't really force anyone to watch or turn on the TV," Borsiczky said.
"Or maybe we can," Braga joked.
"There's a satisfying ending [to Season 1]," Borsiczky added. "We're anticipating getting to do this for a long time, but [we have great stories that are told this season]."
Perhaps part of the problem came with ABC's large promotional campaign prior to the show's premiere. "It's a double-edged sword. It's amazing to have ABC [behind us]," Borsiczky said of the broadcast net's high expectations. "On the other hand, it's better to be the 'come-from-behind underdog.' "
Even with its share of conflicts, it wasn't difficult to see that the show still had a loyal audience with the number of people who showed up at the Saban Theatre on Thursday. Thus, the three-month break served as a chance for the producers to retool the show creatively and logistically.
"We stuck to the overall plan, but we had to adjust," Borsiczky said about the last half of the season. "[There will be] big answers in every show [and] things are going to move a little faster." During the first 20 minutes of next Thursday's episode, Borsiczky's statement rings true, though it may already be too late for many viewers who have dropped the show even before its winter finale.
Aside from these probing questions, the panel was pretty tame -- except for the mention of poo, butt-grabbing and character porn names. And the amusing fact that one of the actors didn't know "FlashForward" was based on a novel.
After sharing that many people believed his character was lying about not having a flash forward, actor John Cho (Demetri) mentioned that co-star Courtney B. Vance (Stanford) grabbed his ass while on-set one day. "It was a forceful dinosaur grab," Cho elaborated. "We're a close family. Family grabs ass!," Vance said.
"Does kangaroo poo bounce after the [kangaroo] for like a week?," "Lost" star Dominic Monaghan (Simon) asked the crowd, after some of the panelists discussed working with the animal in some of last year's episodes. "Michael Ealy (Vogel) just asked me if there was a kangaroo in the book!," Sonya Walger (Olivia) laughed, referring to the book by Robert J. Sawyer.
"We all have porn names," Joseph Fiennes (Mark) shared during the panel. "Mine is Mark Bangfoot."
The show may be serious and dark, but the cast keeps it light and fluffy when the cameras are off. "You have to keep it light, at least what I do -- gravitas-filled acting," Cho joked. "You have to balance it out."
So why did the writers choose April 29, the date of D-Day? "It sounded good. That's the only reason," Braga said. "In the novel, the flash forwards were 20 years later." The gap between the present and future wasn't exactly beneficial for a television series, the producers realized, since rarely do shows last that long.
When the 18th rolls around, viewers will have another chance to ultimately decide if "FlashForward" is worth their time. Until then, the cast and producers can only hope that there won't be a universal blackout on their show.
Here are the night's most notable mini-blackouts:
On if the cast is kept in the dark: "They only read their own parts," Borsiczky joked. "Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit, me. Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit, me," Jack Davenport (Lloyd) said in jest. But Zachary Knighton (Bryce) had a different take on each script. "I just want to know if I'll be around next episode," he said.
On Davenport's shirtless scenes: "Shirtless to you is two syllables. Shirtless to me is like 9,000 sit-ups with no breaks," he said. "Jack suffers from a fat back," Monaghan interjected.
On their characters: "Zoe's a bad episode of 'Bridezillas!,' " Gabrielle Union (Zoe) analyzed. "He (Demetri) puts people in good or bad categories, and you have to learn other categories," Cho said. "Lighten up and have a drink!," Fiennes said, noting the irony because his character was drinking in his flash forward. Ealy said to laughter, "Vogel's therapist would want to be more like Vogel." When it came to Knighton's turn, he took a different route. "You've got problems because your name is Bryce Varley," he said, emphasizing the last name.
On the kangaroo: "What do they keep in the pouch?," Monaghan wondered. "Little fun size Snickers?"
On casting the roles: "We were the first pilot of the season to cast," Borsiczky said. "Every person we cast was our first choice." Braga interjected, "Except two." "Well, really one [looking at Monaghan]," Borsiczky teased. "We had to beg Dominic to do the show," Braga said jokingly.
On the flash forwards: "Each flash forward is filmed differently ... but in the language of the show," Borsiczky said. For instance, Fiennes' flash forwards were filmed using a hand-crank camera to give it the gritty, untethered feel. For Walger's, the crew used handmade lens flares so parts of the shot would be in soft focus.
On a (potential) new name for the show: After Vance discussed his character's flash forward, which featured him sitting on a toilet in a bathroom stall, a panelist shouted out a name for the "future-backs," "We should call this 'Flush Forward'!"
Additional panelists included: Peyton List (Nicole).
The "Breaking Bad" gang might be the most well-spoken cast and crew on television.
The audience was given a taste of it Wednesday evening when the subversive AMC drama was celebrated during PaleyFest. After a special screening of the upcoming Season 3 premiere, the panelists -- led by Bryan Cranston ("Malcolm in the Middle") and creator Vince Gilligan ("The X Files") -- rolled off detailed script descriptions from the pilot like it was still firmly ingrained in their minds.
"The most shocking was the exploding turtle," Dean Norris (Hank) said, when asked about the show's standout moments.
"When I read the first page of the pilot script ... I was like, 'What the f***?!' And that was page one!," Cranston (Walt) recalled. "I knew the longer I waited, every actor in Hollywood would want to do it."
Anna Gunn (Skyler) said the moments that interested her were the unexpected ones. "The way things turn on a dime ... the way that the humor and the danger turns is what fascinates me," she said.
For Aaron Paul (Jesse), reading the first script was like a match made in heaven. "When I first read the pilot, I thought, 'There is no f***ing way this show is getting made,' " he said. "You talked about the melting the body in acid ... I found myself laughing to tears!"
R.J. Mitte (Walt Jr.) agreed. "It (the show) really pushes the envelope. There's no show on TV that can put the family [dynamic] next to the [drug-making]," the young actor said.
The two planes crashing at the end of Season 2 was eye-opening, mainly because Walt was an indirect catalyst of the catastrophic event. And in the Season 3 premiere, which airs Sunday, March 21 at 10 p.m., a huge reveal is made about Walt's on-the-side job that will have an adverse effect on his family and bring up many more questions.
"It is so much about trying to work it so the audience is ... a step behind you," Gilligan said. "It was so hard last season to keep Skyler (Walt's wife) in the dark [because she was] too smart a lady."
Because Walt and Skyler's marriage is in some aspects, a lie, would his wife ever embrace his drug-making and drug-dealing ways if it were to come to that? "There's certainly allure to forbidden fruit," Cranston said. "He has to embrace who he's becoming in order to survive. He has to start thinking like a criminal."
"Now that she knows ... the basic fact is the bottom falling out of her life," Gunn said. "Everything she thought she knew in her life isn't the truth anymore."
"Breaking Bad's" premise is not for the faint of heart. There is "so much wrong about the show that they must be doing something right," the panel's moderator said earlier. So have the writers crossed that invisible line yet?
"He (Vince) described Season 1 [to be] about a good man who makes a mistake and compounds that mistake," executive producer Mark Johnson said. For the second season, they weren't sure if Walt was a good man. In the upcoming Season 3, "we'll have a whole new definition," he said. "It's a whole new animal ... but it's still a family show!" Cue laughter.
"My character is metamorphasizing from one character to another," Cranston said. "At the end of the series, he's going to be a bloodthirsty killer." "I don't really know myself. I don't have an endgame," Gilligan added.
"You don't have an inkling?," Cranston asked. "The characters tell the writers where to go," Gillgan said. "We explore without a map and with a flashlight. We don't BS our way through."
When asked if Walt, who has terminal cancer, would enjoy himself for at least half an episode, Cranston was completely on board with the idea. "It feels like he needs a break, doesn't he?," he said. "He has never felt more alive now that he's gotten his death sentence."
Gilligan, known for many fans' favorite "X Files" episodes, was plotting to kill off one of the characters by the ninth episode of Season 1, but because of the writers' strike, rethought his plans. That character was Jesse. (Paul was nominated for an Emmy in 2009.) "I didn't know how damn good this guy was," Gillgan said of Paul. "We knew by episode two just how good you were. It came early on just how colossal of a mistake that was."
In the opening scene of the premiere, Gilligan said the Santa Muerte religion (which is based on Catholicism) played a big role in the initial idea. In it, "one prays to death itself" and though it is seemingly dark, it isn't an evil religion, just an interesting one.
When Gilligan and his crew began pitching the show to networks, someone brought up Showtime's "Weeds," which at that time was just beginning its TV run. "Oh no, it's different," Gilligan said. "It's crystal meth!"
During the Q&A portion, a member of the audience noted that the Season 2 episode titles clued viewers in. Would there be a similar thing in Season 3? "Because we did it once, we don't want to do it again," Gilligan explained.
And how long should "Breaking Bad" stay on the air? "I would hope we'd know an end date," Gilligan said. "Any serialized show should [have an idea when they're ending]."
"How many episodes do you need for syndication?," Cranston joked. "Walt's French cousin comes to visit -- that's not jumping the shark. Walt Jr. has a sex change. [in a deep MovieFone voice] On a special episode of 'Breaking Bad' ..."
In hindsight, the decision to shoot in New Mexico was a blessing in disguise, but Riverside was a close second. The only reason they settled on New Mexico was because of the 25% tax incentive.
A fan asked Cranston if anyone had reservations about casting him in a dramatic role after seven years on "Malcolm in the Middle." "The business has a tendency to pigeon-hole people ... so we try to reinvent ourselves," he said. "It's one of those things that you kinda just have to go after."
When did Cranston realize Walt could pull off his "Scarface"-esque character? "[It was in Season 1,] Walt had finished chemotherapy and the doctor tells him he'll feel normal again," he said. "He wakes up, sees hair grow back and picks up a razor." It was that specific scene that solidified Walt as a man who wanted to sustain his current status, according to Cranston.
Who did Seth MacFarlane want to replace Cleveland Brown after the character left "Family Guy" for a spinoff?
Mr. T.
"It would be like Mr. T was in the show as Mr. T, and he's just the fourth guy in the group," MacFarlane told fans at PaleyFest on Tuesday evening.
Except, MacFarlane said, Mr. T is a born-again Christian, so it "didn't really work out."
The political and crude content of "Family Guy" was a frequent topic at MacFarlane's PaleyFest event. The evening was moderated by Bill Maher, whose HBO talk show "Real Time" featured MacFarlane as a guest for its recent season premiere.
"Animation is one of the few remaining television genres where you can really touch on politics," said MacFarlane, characteristically sipping a glass of booze throughout the event. "A live-action sitcom can't really go there."
Despite recently drawing nationwide headlines by offending former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, MacFarlane said religion -- not politics -- is the trickier subject matter.
"It's a hard fucking pill for them to swallow -- religion," said MacFarlane, noting he recently had to change a line from "Oh Jesus" to "Oh God" despite the character reverently quoting a line from the movie "War Games."
If MacFarlane could have one word uncensored in a season of "Family Guy," he said it wouldn't be any of the major four-letter words, but rather the use of "goddamnit" and "Jesus Christ" as expletives.
"In a second, I would pick [those two]," he said. "Especially in New England [where the show is set], that's just how those guys talk."
MacFarlane repeatedly praised, of all people, the censors at Fox, suggesting the network tends to be more skittish (and less accurately so) about what sort of content will offend viewers.
"Ironically, the one thing about the censors at Fox, they've got their finger on the pulse of what the average American is gonna get bent out of shape about better than anybody else at the network," MacFarlane said. "You could make the argument that over the past 10 years our biggest defenders at the network have been the censors -- believe it or not."
Yet there's one piece of quasi-profanity that some viewers mistakenly believe is in every episode. During the show's theme song in the opening credits, a line sounds like, "all the things that make us effin' cry."
"It's laugh and cry," MacFarlane said, clearing it up for Maher and many in the audience. "It's the accent."
Maher praised the show's lack of predictability, the way you can never be sure where a narrative will take you, even if it means having characters make seemingly permanent changes.
"That's the highest compliment you can give us," MacFarlane said. "All my favorite shows are like that. I know if I watch a cop show or a medical show I'm going to see the disease of the week. I used to like 'The Twilight Zone' or 'Star Trek,' shows where you turn it on and not have any idea what you were going to get that week."
That said, MacFarlane acknowledged that it is possible to take the famed, and sometimes derided, loose "Family Guy" story structure too far.
"There are times when it's possible to be too crazy," he said, citing an episode in which Stewie spends the entire time in a robot suit. "But if something is funny enough, with animation you can always find a way to buy it back."
Night six of PaleyFest was quite a turnaround from the raucous "Community" panel on Wednesday and the entertaining "Modern Family" session on the festival's opening night. The evening belonged to "Cougar Town," but it might as well have been for a drab hospital drama.
The love felt between the cast and co-creators was not lost on the crowd, however, as they offered good insight despite a lackluster host. Moderated by Us Weekly's John Griffiths, who seemed to suck the life out of the room save for some entertaining bits, the panel was a minor blip on the radar.
Co-creator Bill Lawrence ("Scrubs") introduced a screening of next week's episode and prefaced it by saying to enormous laughs, "I'm 12 glasses into the evening," after plugging the bar in the theater lobby.
"The show has changed a little bit to what it was in the pilot," Lawrence said to the attendees, joking that they may need to rethink the title of the show. The 22-minute episode titled "Counting on You" honed in on "Cougar Town's" signature wackiness and endearingly absurd antics that proved Griffiths' description -- "an adult family comedy" -- true.
Set in Florida, the show differentiated itself by choosing a location other than New York or Los Angeles, and like writing's rule of thumb (write what you know), members of the cast, Lawrence and co-creator Kevin Biegel had ties to the Sunshine State -- and the south in general.
"Kevin and I are both from Florida ... and they're bass-fishing guys," Lawrence said, referring to a storyline in the episode that aired. "My family lives in Florida, but I'm from Alabama," star Courteney Cox (Jules) added.
"Shooting that scene in 45-degree water was nothing like Florida," Lawrence joked, discussing a moment in the episode between Travis (Dan Byrd) and his father Bobby (Brian Van Holt) waist-deep in a sludge-filled pond. "I'm from the south as well," Van Holt interjected. "Southern California!"
The genesis of the show came from Lawrence's own life experiences and the tone was a calculated decision to make certain it could be successful. "The show can only work if you're self-deprecating and have no vanity," Lawrence said. "She (Courteney Cox) was the one who could do it."
Griffiths asked Cox if she was apprehensive in jumping on to a new project, but the former "Friends" actress said she was looking to team up with Lawrence from the start. (Cox guest starred for three episodes on Season 8 of "Scrubs.") "I wanted to do a comedy with Bill Lawrence," she said, adding "... and Kevin Biegel" after Biegel's feigned shock.
The TV vet spent two years post-"Friends" on FX's "Dirt" playing a celebrity tabloid queen. When the moderator commented that the cheeky premise wasn't on television anymore, Cox corrected him. "It's actually being done now. TMZ has a show," she said.
Script ideas often come to fruition when Lawrence eavesdrops on the cast. According to his wife and co-star Christa Miller (Ellie), his memory is like a well-oiled machine. Next thing they know, whatever Lawrence spotted them doing usually makes it in some way, shape or form.
The raunchy subject matters on the show are plum for a 9:30 p.m. timeslot, but it would never fare well at 8, according to Biegel. "I love 'Modern Family.' They can have ... two guys' butts touching, but our show is so policed now because it's 'Cougar Town,' " Lawrence added.
The "kid" character, Travis, is oftentimes the most sane in an insane world. "Sometimes he seems like the smartest character on the show," Lawrence said to applause, saying that Byrd doesn't play him as the victim. Van Holt shouted, much like his character on the show, "That's my boy!" "In real life, Dan Byrd's really 36," Lawrence kidded.
During one of the lighter moments of the night, Lawrence, who worked on "Friends," recalled a conversation he had with Cox. On his last day working on the iconic sitcom, Cox apparently told him, "'Thank you for your hard work, Chris,' " he said. Cox responded, "I thought he was Marta (Kaufman's) assistant!"
Griffiths asked Josh Hopkins (Grayson) what it took to get good banter, one of the odder queries of the panel. "A good banteree?," he answered, bewildered.
"It's like working with a comedy ninja," Hopkins said about working with Cox. "She's so quick and funny."
Ian Gomez (Andy) said even though the show centered on adults in their forties, there is no "mommy" or "daddy." "It's like we're a bunch of kids. There's no authority here," he said.
Miller, known for playing fiesty women, was asked if Ellie was closer to her off the set. "I'm not like that at all, John," she said half-seriously. Gomez, seated next to her and plays her onscreen husband, died laughing after hearing her response.
"These two (Courteney and Christa) have developed a relationship that we all feed off of," Lawrence said. "And it's become 'the nice guy and the other one.' " The latter being Miller.
"I think Jules is the most functional drunk," Cox said of her character's incredible alcohol intake. Lawrence later shared that the actors drink real wine, unlike other TV shows where the glasses are filled with apple juice. Their wine of choice? Charles Shaw.
With Jules single and having the worst luck with men, Lawrence hinted at a possible romance between she and Grayson. "It gets naughty and fun," he said, saying that the show is "not going to drag [the romance] stuff out."
Though Scott Foley, Nick Zano and Ryan Devlin have recently completed guest arcs, and singer Sheryl Crow appearing in a future episode, Lawrence already has his mind set on his next target. "Jennifer Aniston will be on the show next year, but she doesn't know it yet," he said, clearly kidding.
During the Q&A session, a fan asked Cox what her recent Golden Globe nomination meant. "It means everything," Cox answered playfully. "That's so funny 'cause it's so true!," Lawrence added, laughing.
Cox elaborated further, to loud cheers: "I've been doing this a long time. It'd be really nice to be [nominated for an Emmy]."
Some odds and ends from the panel:
-- When Lawrence had to cast the part of Barb, the snarky fortysomething who follows Jules around at random times with pointed one-liners, it was Cox (who also serves as an executive producer) who suggested Carolyn Hennesy for the role.
-- "Cougar Town" is the only broadcast show that has "more women on the writing staff than men," according to Lawrence.
-- "If one thing works, you'll see 20 of it," Lawrence said, on the trends in television.
-- Van Holt suggested the show's title be changed to "Cirque de Cougar Town."
-- Hopkins did impressions of Busy Philipps (Laurie), who was in Hawaii, and Van Holt.
-- Van Holt originally read for Grayson and bombed his on-camera audition.
-- In "Counting on You," which airs March 10, the following can be expected: father-son bonding, gay traps, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Blumfy (blanket + comfy), tiny eyes, Twitter, motorcycles, "Born to Be Wild," a friends handshake, someone copping a butt-feel and ducks.
It was all about Chevy Chase at Wednesday night's PaleyFest event honoring NBC's freshman comedy "Community."
Throughout the evening, Chase would distract the crowd by uttering random words into his mic, gesturing to the audience, misinterpreting questions and teasing his co-stars. One attendee tweeted afterwards: "Tonight's panel was like 2 in 1: The Community @paleyfest panel and The Chevy Chase Show panel."
But even Fletch couldn't save the night from the R-rated chaos that culminated during the 75-minute session. With subjects ranging from racial-neutral script parts to star Joel McHale's (Jeff) impressive torso, no topic was safe. And boy, did it prove true.
Chase (Pierce), who fell from his chair after saying several times that he couldn't hear (yes, it really happened), was easily the star of the evening, but not without some stiff competition from his co-stars. Donald Glover (Troy) shared an entertaining story about his first meeting with co-star Ken Jeong (Señor Chang), saying it was pretty rare to walk into the room and see a guy you've already seen naked. And many of McHale's zingers were aimed squarely at Chase.
When creator Dan Harmon ("The Sarah Silverman Program") took to the podium to introduce Thursday's episode, "Physical Education," he likened it to something that didn't have vampires, referencing the current craze. But quickly took his statement back, and you'll see why when the episode airs. In 22 minutes, the comedy paid homage to "Mad Men," went supernatural, named pool a legitimate sport and showed McHale in his skivvies. The best part? There might be more nudity than viewers are expecting, which McHale teased to earlier this week.
Still game? Let's venture forth.
Casting the main roles on any show is always hit-or-miss, but on a comedy, the chemistry between actors is even more essential. When it came down to the lead role, it seemed pretty simple who Harmon and the crew were going with. "Joel was first in," executive producer and director Joe Russo said. "We thought we could build a show [around him]."
Though many knew of McHale as the charmingly snarky host of E!'s "The Soup," the guy could act. Jeong said his favorite scenes were often the one-on-ones with McHale. Chase chimed in: "And what about that torso?" (It'll only make sense after Thursday's episode.) Cue huge cheers.
Next up was the role of Pierce. "We had a meeting with Chevy and he fell asleep. Then he woke up and talked about his money problems," Russo joked. Chase in turn showed his healthy stash of $20 bills.
To cast the part of Britta, Harmon had a specific idea of what he wanted her to be like: two parts "completely full of herself" and two parts sincere, according to Russo. Plus, it was the toughest role to cast. "I've played a lot of [drugged-out] teenage prostitutes," Gillian Jacobs (Britta) said of her previous work.
Jeong's character wasn't in the pilot, but when Señor Chang was introduced in the second episode, the actor didn't miss a beat. "Ken is a genius. He makes funny wherever he goes," Glover said.
And the reason "Community" works? "Greendale's a crazy place where crazy things can happen," Harmon said. "But, the people are real."
Here are some of the evening's highlights, or at least what could be understood from the insanity:
-- The evening was moderated by Entertainment Weekly's John Young, who has recapped "Community" for the mag since the pilot. Though a fan of the show, he has "taken the show to task," which prompted Harmon to respond via Twitter about running a character named EW PopWatch over with a car.
-- In order to shoot the naked pool match in "Physical Education," McHale had to take some necessary actions so as not to embarass himself. "I shaved down. I had lots of unwanted hair I never knew I had," McHale said. "I went on the 'You're going to be naked in two weeks' diet."
-- When it came time to shoot, having McHale wearing nothing but flesh-toned underwear all week long garnered different reactions. Depending on who you asked, it was either "too much or not enough," Glover said.
-- The kiss at the end of the episode "was better than the kiss I had with Danny Bonaduce," McHale said, adding it's always weird to kiss someone who has stubble. ("Boy Meets World's" Blake Clark, who played Shawn's father on the '90s show, guest stars as the physical ed teacher.)
-- Observations from the episode: Jeff wears a badass motorcycle jacket. Britta says bagels like "bah-gels." Abed gets matched up with the help of his fellow study group members. Abed and Troy are the second coming of Bert and Ernie. Who knew there was an official pool-playing outfit? Abed's second version of himself takes on a vampire form. Jeff gets hit on in his "pool shorts." Abed plays a mean Don Draper and almost wins over Annie.
-- Harmon's community college experience in Glendale at 32 years old prompted the idea for "Community." When he began acing tests in biology class, his struggling counterparts approached him to form a study group. It was through study sessions in the library that he realized he actually liked the people he was with. Executive producer Garrett Donovan added that the community college setting was the only way they envisioned the concept working, since it allowed for a diversity in age.
-- According to Donovan, improv has become a very crucial part of the show.
-- When asked if he's learned anything from Chase, McHale gave several: "How not to match my clothes. Chevy is like Nolan Ryan, in that he's still alive." Cue laughter. "He's the funniest guy on set ... and then he calls you a prick. He's great. If he read the scripts, it'd be even greater." Zing.
-- In the urban version of "Community," Glover would be the star, Rev. Run would play his father, he would try to sell Britta, there would be more bling and "yo" would be used regularly.
-- On working with a younger cast: "I feel so much younger working with them (the rest of the cast) ... actually no, I don't. I feel like an old ship," Chase said. "They all have their own [skills], like a Home Depot. ... Joel's a toolmaster."
-- "I come from YouTube," Glover said, which caused his co-stars to tease him incessantly. Like the planet?
-- McHale gave a glimpse into a future episode they're currently shooting, in which Chevy's character thinks he's a wizard. And apparently, it's quite hilarious.
-- According to Harmon and Russo, one of the next episodes is a 20-minute action movie. "It's like 'The Warriors' meets 'I Am Legend' meets 'Battle Royale' meets 'Die Hard,' " McHale said. "Any time I get to say 'Get some bitches!' in something, it's going to be good!," Glover added.
-- McHale described Harmon's weird take on comedy sitcoms in a rather profound way, after comparing him to "some kind of strange oracle." "It seems he's immortal and has learned our ways," he said. "Whenever there is a convention of television that has been used for years, he will take that, scrunch it up, spit on it, eat it, poop it out ... then he'll put it in the script."
-- During the audience Q&A session, a fan suggested McHale tackle the Fletch role if a new movie were ever greenlit. "I don't know how you could top that performance," McHale said modestly. Chase, however, said McHale would be a great Fletch because one day, he'll be dead.
-- A person wondered if Abed was supposed to have Aspergers Syndrome because of his quirky personality. "All the writers are kind of like Abed," Harmon said. More appropriate comparisons included Data or Spock. (In the episode, Abed was also likened to God. Another possibility?)
-- The best description of "Community" ended the chaotic night on a high note. "It feels like I'm playing poker with my friends and saying stupid stuff," the fan said, adding that the antics onscreen don't feel scripted at all.