Ian McShane: marketing machine

Alternate headline: Incomprehensible Actor Challenges 'Ignorant' Reporter!

See? The Television Critics Association tour keeps bringing the funny. At least for us.

After sitting through innumerable sessions at this convention in years past, we can kind of understand where Ian McShane was coming from today. Frustrated at a line of questioning, the Emmy-nominated "Deadwood" star flat out dumped on a reporter, beating him down for what he deemed an "ignorant remark."

The crime? The journalist failed to grasp the premise of an upcoming McShane project on NBC called "Kings," some alt reality, Biblically-based mashup that may or may not involve coffee shops (but not Starbucks!) in China. We'll be sure to watch!

Back when we still braved the TCA, there were many a day when we'd been tempted to let out a string of insults like, "moron, brain-dead, hack," etc. etc., leveled at fellow writers, but we never thought the defense of "temporary Tourette Syndrome" would actually work.

Wonder what McShane's excuse will be? Or maybe he just thinks that being on his best behavior in front of a room full of journalists is overrated. Next victim!

For more on this panel, go here. And join us in saying a fond farewell to this summer's TCA.

Bale, Barenaked Ladies and Blake

Every silver lining has a cloud?

While the team behind "The Dark Knight" is still basking in the $158.4 million afterglow, there's disturbing news this morning that Christian Bale has been arrested in London on suspicion of assaulting his mother and sister. They were all in town for the record-breaking superhero movie's premiere there.

Let this not be true.

The incident coincides with a now unfortunately timed Burger King/"Dark Knight" tie-in in Europe that rewards consumers for giving in to their "dark side." That's not a poor attempt at humor this morning on our part.

Turns out that an arrest for coke possession isn't compatible with Disney's Music Block Party, so Grammy-nominated Canadian pop band Barenaked Ladies has opted out of this summer's family-friendly tour (before the inevitable call from the Mouse House). Lead singer Steven Page (pictured) has pleaded not guilty.

Blake -- still incarcerated! Grammy-winning neo-soul singer Amy Winehouse will have at least four more months of on-stage laments, courtesy of a judge who won't let her husband out of the slammer just yet.

The rest of the day will be police blotter free. We promise.

Illuminating day at TCA

So much to glean from Week 3 of the Television Critics Association tour. Like this stuff from the General Electric TV Empire:

• NBC's resident party boy/entertainment chief Ben Silverman blames the Lakers for his network's sucky summer, never mind the sucky programming.

• Leno pulls a Kimmel while showing he's A-OK with shoving off next May. Who believes this?

• There's something called a "creative greenhouse" around "The Office," along with a spinoff and don't-call-it-a-spinoff.

• The Olympics opening ceremony could be off the chain, thanks to legendary Hong Kong filmmaker Zhang Yimou; the world's elite athletes will try to cheer without coughing up a lung.

• There will be a "bad-ass" shower fight between Nicole Richie and some "Chuck" cast member, but not a "Gossip Girl." Really?

• Chicks in the South still really love them some big hair (as evidenced by a cast member from the upcoming Bravo spin-off "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" -- pictured).

• THR's television team, led by truth-teller blogger James Hibberd, is working its arse off. Carry on!
  

Bright day for 'Dark Knight'

Who says Disney's the happiest place on earth?

Today that just might describe Warner Bros., where an early lunch on the lot saw people skipping along (well, let's just say they had spring in their steps atypical for a Monday a.m.) Reminding them why they're giddy: a giant outdoor banner paying homage to the villains, evil and boxoffice records pulverized by "The Dark Knight."

Folks were in a festive mood, especially, we figure, those with significant amounts of Time Warner stock. Peter Roth, head honcho at Warner Bros. TV, greeted corporate PR maven Sue Fleishman with a hug and a hearty, "Congratulations!" as the two passed at the exec commissary.

After all, it's not every Monday (it's not most Mondays) that a studio actually revises its weekend estimates up, in this case to an eye-popping $158.4 million, bigger than "Spider-Man 3" and, hell, bigger than everything.

Meanwhile, fans in London turned out for the premiere there (see photo) which brought out more and varied incarnations of the Joker.

Was that the sound of champagne corks popping in a little corner of Burbank? If they haven't already, we say let 'em fly.

 

South Park's big make believe

A beautiful breezy SoCali summer night under the stars, singing our little hearts out to Matt Stone and Trey Parker's subversive musical masterpiece, "South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut," one of the inspired choices at this year's Outfest.

Everybody, all together now, "Ooooooohhhh, Kyle's mom is a big fat..."

Weren't we in heaven last Thursday night?

We're back there again today as we learn that Stone and Parker are combining three Emmy-nominated "South Park" episodes from last season, along with never-before-seen footage, to create one big Care Bear/Tinkerbell/Smurfs-maiming feature-length extravaganza. And it's Butters-centric. What could possibly be better than that?

"South Park Imaginationland: The Trilogy," will air Sunday, July 27. We'd highly recommend you watch the trailer here. Right away (as long as cartoon violence, repeated F-bombs and talk of that delicate matter between Kyle and Cartman are safe for your workplace).

Mom, 'Mad Men' and TCA

Here's just how far-reaching the "Mad Men" aura has become -- our 78-year-old Southern mom, a network fan who ventures over to cable almost exclusively for crafting on HGTV and a little "edgy" drama in "The Closer," caught part of the marathon of season 1 on AMC yesterday because she'd heard about all its Emmy nominations.

Her verdict: she wants to see more. And, of course, "That lead character sure is handsome!"

The older we get, the more we have in common with our mommy. And in this rare case, not frightened at all about that overlap.

Not surprisingly, the Television Critics Association like the "Mad Men," too. Its members, who often go the acquired taste route, awarded the drama their top awards during a ceremony Saturday night. Accepting the trophies with co-star Jon Hamm (our mother's new boyfriend), John Slattery uttered the best quote we've heard all morning:

“Obviously, the message of smoking, drinking and whoring has resonated with the TCA.”

As we've said before, long live TCA!

Other winners included "30 Rock," Tina Fey, HBO's miniseries "John Adams" and its star Paul Giamatti, a career achievement award for "Saturday Night Live" exec producer Lorne Michaels and the Heritage Award for "The Wire," recognition of a longstanding program that has had a lasting cultural or social impact (TCA's always understood the value of this late, beloved drama).

And speaking of "Mad Men" buzz, the hottest ticket in town tonight is the screening and afterparty in Hollywood for the new season and the first on DVD. Just because we couldn't get squeezed in 11th hour, don't think we'll alert the Fire Marshall. Heh heh.

 

Obama -- Emmy, Emmy -- Obama

Barack -- Hollywood feels your pain.

That's right, the Ivy League-educated Man Who Would Be President isn't the only one being called elitist. In chats and coverage about yesterday's Emmy nominations, words like affluent, high-brow and niche keep coming up. (Only the blogs have gone with the more descriptive "stick up the butt.")

Less than a million people watched "Mad Men" during its first season, and yet it racked up 16 nominations, more than any other drama on TV. Most people not in the industry and those living in the so-called flyover states have never heard of "Breaking Bad" or "Damages" and don't watch "30 Rock" or "The Office."

Lots of the Emmy nominees are an acquired taste, like "Dexter" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

To which we say -- is that a bad thing? And didn't we all have this discussion at Oscar time, when indie movies that made no money dominated the night?

In that aftermath, accompanied by historic low ratings for the thrown-together post-strike show, even the industry bible Entertainment Weekly suggested that vaunted but stodgy Oscar go more populist. Let in a few summer blockbusters, it said, and maybe people would actually watch.

But is that really what it's all about?

Emmy reality, take 2

Kathy Griffin doesn't have "Planet Earth" to push around anymore.

Instead, if she wins (and maybe even if she doesn't) she'll have some choice words of the "suck it" variety for "Dirty Jobs," "Intervention," and her last-year competitors "Antiques Roadshow" and "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."

Are we the only ones who think there's something whack about this category that those shows are all thrown into the same pot? At least it's unpredictable, as opposed to many of the Emmy nominations that were announced today in the unscripted races.

The nods were more noteworthy for what they didn't include, like Padma (we're good with that), Tyra (oh well) and "Survivor" (new suggested tagline: Restore. Revive. Reboot).

We're still stinging over what we see as major exclusions here, never mind that they never even made it across the TV Academy's NoHo threshold for consideration. What, no "Rock of Love," Jeff Conaway's girlfriend as best succubus, and Nigel Lythgoe as theologian of movement?

Delighted with the new reality show host category, though, if only to hear Tom Bergeron's off the cuff witticisms about his competition (Jeff Probst, Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum and Ryan Seacrest):

"I'm going to have dimples put in to compete with Probst, shaving my head to compete with Howie, waxing my legs to compete with Heidi and cutting 20 years off my resume to compete with Ryan."

Give that man a raise.

The give and take of Emmy

We're particularly struck today by the yin and yang of this year's Emmy nominations.

We're sort of crushed that Jack McBrayer didn't make it to the final five in the supporting comedy category. The hillbilly innocent named Kenneth the Page that he plays on "30 Rock" regularly prostrates himself for the staff of "The Girlie Show" and its NBC network home. Does he have to do the same for us in order to get a nod? Please!

And no Jenna Fischer or Elizabeth Perkins among the supporting actresses in a comedy. Sigh.

But where Emmy voters taketh away, they also giveth.

Sarah Silverman might not have made it out of the final 10 in lead comedy, but she's nominated nonetheless, for her guest stint on "Monk."

Same for Sharon Gless, who we'd hoped would break out for her chain-smoking narcissistic mom in "Burn Notice." Instead, she's being recognized for a story arc on "Nip/Tuck" that went from amusing to downright horrifying, as the over-the-top writing dictated for her stalker manager in Swifty Lazar glasses.

It was all fun and games until she stuffed a Hollywood talent agent like a teddy bear. Hey, wait a minute. That's a drama and not a comedy?

Not that he has a chance against heavyweights Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, but we're thrilled to see Don Rickles nominated for individual performance in a variety or music program for his "Mr. Warmth"docu/special on HBO. If you haven't seen it, do so immediately.

And Vince Gilligan's nomination for directing the pilot of "Breaking Bad?" That's just plain sweet.

You'll find a full list of nominees here, so go ahead and cheer and/or vent.

The reality of Emmy

Let's recap.

Not only did we learn about Kristen Chenoweth's date with a reality show host (indeed, it was Jeff Probst, who the bubbly Chenoweth described as "totally cute" but "marrying someone else." Awwwww.)

We also realize that "The Amazing Race" might not be impenetrable after all in the reality show category. Maybe we're drawing that conclusion because it's the first year that hosts have their own race, and we believe in momentum. Both "American Idol" with Ryan Seacrest at the helm and "Project Runway" with the gorgeous and unflappable Heidi Klum have it. The shows and their shepherds are nominated. "The Amazing Race's" Phil Keoghan is not.

Never mind that "Idol's" ratings were down this year and "Runway" could disappear from the network it helped define after this season. (Side note to Bravo: yes, everyone noticed that you gave scant little promotion to the season that launched this week. Clips going back to season 1? Who cares? How about a look at the new crew?)

At any rate, this is "Runway's" solid chance at an Emmy, given that its creators have said they won't move with it if it goes to Lifetime. What will it look like in the future? We hope it won't be a shadow of its Peabody-winning past, but you never know.