TCA Tidbits – Day 2

SSN is at the Summer TCA Press Tour to get a preview of all the upcoming fall TV. We’re live-tweeting the panels @TSSNews and giving you a daily roundup of each day’s highlights. BBC AMERICA The Dr. Who 50^th Anniversary Special will celebrate 50 years of the iconic character and all the actors who have played The Doctor over the years. We couldn’t help but notice the overwhelming love for this show in the room. Though Matt Smith is leaving the role of The Doctor after portraying him for the past four years, he’s excited to do something new, including a role in Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut. An Adventure in Space & Time is a scripted special about the origin of Dr. Who and the many personalities involved. David Bradley plays the first ever Doctor, the iconic William Hartnell, in the drama written by “Sherlock” co-creator Mark Gatiss and directed by Terry McDonough (Breaking Bad). The BBC’s Head of Drama Sydney Newman, credited with the creation of the show, is portrayed by Brian Cox and the producer, Verity Lambert, by Jessica Raine. This definitely looked like it would appeal to both casual and diehard Dr. Who fans. Atlantis Mark Addy is Hercules (“Game of Thrones,” “Great Expectations,” “The Full Monty”) and Jemima Rooper (“One Man, Two Guvnors” on Broadway) is Medusa. This is not the usual story we’ve heard about the lost city of Atlantis, this version is about what happens before it gets lost. Addy’s Hercules is less strongman and funnier. Medusa hasn’t quite learned to control her powers. This piqued our interest. The show’s exec producers are Howard Overman (Misfits) and Johnny Capps (Merlin) which may be one of the best noms de plume we heard today.  Broadchurch David Tennant (a former Dr. Who – are you sensing a theme here?) stars as a detective investigating the murder of a child. There are twists. No spoilers were volunteered but the cutdown reel was riveting. We’re in. DISCOVERY The shows run the gamut on the Discovery Networks. Today’s sessions were: Man, Cheetah, Wild Secret Princes Investigation Discovery: Surviving Evil OWN: Raising Whitley Science Channel: The Unexplained Files Velocity – Patrick Dempsey: Racing LeMans What stood out for us: the bare feet onstage of the Man who lived with cheetahs for two years and taught us that cheetahs could be friendly but never trust a lion because they’ll eat anything and everything. The Secret Princes are men with titles who go to live in Texas and try to date and find love without telling potential love interests who they really are. Because we’ve learned from THE BACHELOR that great loves are built on a foundation of lies and fantasy dates. While the Secret Princes seem amiable enough, we’re not sure we buy the premise, even though we hope they all found nice girls to date. Charisma Carpenter (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) hosts Surviving Evil and tells her own story of being brutally attacked one night. The show is supposed to be a testament to the courage of the women who were attacked and then moved forward with their lives. We admire that angle but we’re not sure we want to watch reenactments of violent acts toward women. OWN’s Raising Whitley has actress Kym Whitley and her extended family of friends helping to raise her adopted son Joshua, now 3. There’s boyfriend Rodney and the fashionable life coach/advisor Wendell. The show is very “it takes a village” and there’s a lot of joy and laughter in this group. Oh, and young Joshua made a cameo appearance at the end of the panel and charmed us when he wouldn’t give up his binky. The Unexplained Files could easily be retitled Weird Stuff That Happens. A faint reminder of the Unsolved Mysteries series NBC had years ago. Patrick Dempsey caused a bit of a stir during his session for Racing LeMans. Telling us that the more money you have, the faster you can go in racing (the better a car you can drive), Dempsey said he needed both his day job on Grey’s Anatomy and racing to be complete. At first, the room thought he was slamming Grey’s but then he was careful to mention that he appreciates that the show has run for ten seasons and that the producers allow him to race. Dempsey has loved racing since he was a kid so tackling LeMans seems to be a dream come true for him. HBO The executive session with Richard Plepler and Mike Lombardo moved briskly, with both men exhibiting their usual candor and intelligence. Quick points: --Asked if they’d ever option shows that ran on Netflix first, Plepler answered definitively, “No.”  --Asked about Netflix’s refusal to share viewer numbers for their original shows, Lombardo said, “It’s…curious.” --We also learned that Julia Louis Dreyfus’ Veep character Selina Meyer will hit the campaign trail next season. --The Newsroom will likely get a third season order. --Treme will return in December to start its final run of episodes. --HBO will not air the Criminal Justice pilot the late James Gandolfini starred in. They’re speaking to Steve Zaillian right now to make a plan. --Danny McBride is developing a new show about high school life for HBO. Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth is a filmed version of Tyson’s one-man show, directed by Spike Lee. Tyson is honest, candid and still sports that unique face tattoo. Lee praised Tyson’s for telling his story with no BS and no spin. Memorable quote from Tyson, “I’m no Charles Manson but I’m no Mother Teresa either. Don't get too close and be careful, I'll bite you ... as you know.” Hello Ladies is a new comedy from Stephen Merchant (The Office, Extras), Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky. Merchant plays Stuart, a socially awkward Brit transplanted to Los Angeles, where he hopes to find love but usually finds disappointment. The clip reel was very strong. Merchant in person is even more of a treat as he shared a couple of very funny personal anecdotes that may wind up in the show but they contain risqué language so we won’t describe them here. There was also a good deal of talk about Merchant’s height (6’7”) and he told us a story of being at a Laker game and a pretty gal asked him if he’d be there for awhile. Merchant said he would be and the girl said, “Great. I want to tell my friends that we’ll all meet back at you.” The collaboration and chemistry between Merchant, Eisenberg and Stupnitsky seems very easy and comfortable and we can’t wait to see completed episodes. Seduced and Abandoned has Alec Baldwin and director James Toback documenting the process of trying to get funding at Cannes for a movie they want to make that’s based on Last Tango in Paris. They meet with various actors and directors including Martin Scorcese, Roman Polanski, and Francis Coppola. Baldwin said sitting and talking to Polanski for an hour was a highlight for him. He also mentioned how savvy Ryan Gosling is about the industry, much more than Baldwin was at his age. Asked if he would ever consider crowdsource funding to make a movie, Toback said he likes to get his money from sources he can see, and grab by the lapels. We weren’t sure what to make of this project; part vanity project, partly intriguing just because of the idea of documenting the money gathering process. Clear History is a movie written by Larry David and directed by Greg Mottola. The cast is chock full of big names and big talent: Jon Hamm, Kate Hudson, Michael Keaton, Bill Hader, Danny McBride, Eva Mendes, J.B. Smoove, Philip Baker Hall and Liev Schreiber. David plays a guy who opted out of a car company, owned by Hamm’s character, that went on to make billions. David was pretty playful in the TCA session, casually joking with reporters who asked questions he didn’t like and saying he doesn’t know if he wants to do another season of Curb Your Enthusiasm. David said he had fun shooting this film. Danny McBride’s role expanded when David discovered how quick and funny McBride is in the moment. Sidenote: David and McBride are neighbors on Martha’s Vineyard. For Curb fans: the movie is very Curb-esque as it was improvised from a 35 page outline. David said the actors had a great time improvising as it added creativity to their jobs to be able to make up their own lines. The day came full circle with a BBC America party at Soho House celebrating Dr. Who. There was a Tardis, a Dalek and a robot, a display of various Dr. Who costumes and even Dr. Who-themed cupcakes. On the schedule for Friday: Nickelodeon, MTV, Starz, AMC, Pivot and Lifetime. Follow us on twitter @TSSNews for live tweets from the panels.