Wow, we’ve been waiting weeks to hear if FX was going to renew their amazing thriller DAMAGES and word just came out that they have… for 2 more seasons!
FX has ordered not one more but two new seasons of the critically acclaimed Damages, for a total of 26 episodes. “To be able to tell 26 more hours of mind-blowing stories with Todd A. Kessler, Daniel Zelman and Glenn Kessler is an incredible position to be in,” says Jamie Erlicht, Co-President of Programming and Production, Sony Pictures Television. “FX has continually shown enormous support for both this show and for Sony, and it’s evident in this extended renewal.”
I’m psyched! As you know, DAMAGES was one of my favorite shows this summer and over the past television year. I cannot wait to see Ellen work Patty over and bury her. If you missed any of my INTERVIEWS WITH THE DAMAGES CAST head on over to the Interview page.
THE OAKS, a new series from David Schulner (writer from Tell Me You Love Me, Everwood, etc.) and The Shield creator Shawn Ryan has just cast the family for their 1988 portion of the time-bending drama.
This show is a show I’m really interested in and have been since it was greenlit. I love the concept which is a little drama with a little supernatural. Plus, it just sounds heartbreaking… heartbreakingly great! Three families living in the same house over 60 years and they’re all haunted by some evil spirits. What’s not to love. Plus, it will be on FX. Nudity, language, and lots of blood!
Michael Rispoli and Romy Rosemont have been tapped to star in Fox’s high-profile drama pilot “The Oaks” for director Michael Cuesta.
The project, from 20th Century Fox TV, tells the intertwined stories of three families — a young couple who have just lost a child in 1968, a family of four in 1988 and a pregnant couple in 2008 — who live in the same house and are haunted by a restless spirit.
Rispoli and Rosemont will play the parents in 1988.
20th TV had been trying to cast the father role for a while. Meanwhile, British actress Gina McKee originally was cast as the mother. She is now being replaced by Rosemont as the 1988 portion of the show is being taken in more comedic, blue-collar direction.
Rispoli and Rosemont begin work today on the pilot, which has been shooting in Pasadena since Nov. 5.
The castings and tonal changes to the show have been done with the blessing of “Oaks” creator David Schulner and showrunner Shawn Ryan, who had been involved in the process up until last Monday, when the went on strike. In their absence, the final two castings were overseen by nonwriting executive producer Gina Matthews of Little Engine.
Rispoli, who recurred on NBC’s “The Black Donnellys,” also co-starred on NBC’s drama pilot “Fort Pit” this year. Rosemont, who recently did multiple episodes on the Fox/20th TV drama “Prison Break” and ABC’s “Brothers & Sisters,” next appears in Killer Films’ “An American Crime.”
My good pal Rae from RamblingsofaTVWhore.com sent her super sleuthy spy Spadada for a Doctor’s visit. Spadada was lucky enough to be in LA this week so she could attend the big Red Carpet premiere of NIP/TUCK Season 5 and report back for RTVW!
Check out the scene, the pics, and all the gossip from the Nip/Tuck McNamara and Troy opening in L.A at RamblingsofaTVWhore.com.
FX’s blink and you’ll miss something crazy important thrill ride DAMAGES concluded it’s first (and hopefully not last) season this past Tuesday and there are still a ton of questions left unanswered.
Matt Mitovich, the genius that he sometimes can be sat down with creators Todd A. Kessler, Daniel Zelman and Glenn Kessler and these guys seriously dished about every question you could possibly think of regarding the finale, the timelines, and the hopeful second season.
TVGuide.com: First up, Arthur Frobisher — is he dead? Todd A. Kessler: It all depends on whether he is able to make a phone call there in the field and save himself. But we were so thrilled with Ted Danson’s performance that if we’re fortunate enough to get a second season [pickup], we very much look forward to having the opportunity to bring him back, as the storyline affords us that ability.
TVGuide.com: It offered closure to that storyline, but I’m afraid that too much dies with him if he is dead. Todd: Yes, like the plotline of Ellen attempting to prove who killed David….
Glenn Kessler: I will say this — you’re involved in the Internet and a lot of conversations that have gone on on the Internet about the show and everything, so you know there was a period of time where people were saying, “There couldn’t be a second season, these women could never work together again.” “It will strain credibility.” “There’s no way out of this mess.” We’re storytellers, so there’s a solution to every proposition. And there are also, ideally, surprising solutions. Of course people are asking, “Did Frobisher die in the field?” I would say it’s just not as simple as that.
Daniel Zelman: We have storylines in our head that include Frobisher dying in the field, and we have storylines that include him not dying in the field. We haven’t decided yet which of those storylines would satisfy us the most.
TVGuide.com: Was David’s stalker, Lila, purely a red herring, or was she somehow tied in with Frobisher’s gang? Todd: No, she was not tied in with Frobisher’s gang at all. As far as we’re concerned, she played a pretty crucial role in that she had an impact on David and Ellen and their relationship. And plotwise, she had keys to their apartment, so when she came to see David sleeping in the second-to-last episode, she left the door open, which left the bearded man and the pockmarked man able to gain access without having to break in and potentially alert David.
TVGuide.com: Would Season 2 have some sort of flash-forward/flashback element, or was that simply a device to get the series off the ground? Daniel: It’s a signature of the show that we play with time, and we don’t really want to give that up. At the same time, [Season 2] may not be as fully dependent on the time-jumping as the first season was. But it’s safe to say there will be some element of it. It may not be flashing forward; it may be flashing back to something….
Glenn: The season finale for us was an attempt to accomplish a lot of things in terms of closure and in terms of launching a second season. The idea that the feds have shown up and have been investigating Patty — and it was stated that they’d been investigating even before the Frobisher case — [gives us] reasons to go into Patty’s past. As Daniel said, we have options in a lot of directions, but what was important to us was that we come up with an organic way to move through time again if we want to.
TVGuide.com: Let’s talk about Patty’s past. Is there anything the less-astute viewer might not have surmised from the reveal about the unborn child she lost? Is there a deeper meaning along the lines of “Ellen is the daughter she didn’t have”…? Or was it more about something you have planned for Season 2? Todd: One thing is that as of this phone conversation, we don’t have a second season. But we worked over these characters and storylines dozens and dozens of times in terms of how we would love to proceed, because to us these people are living and breathing. In terms of what happened with Patty, it was very much a domino effect for that character. She experiences significant trauma with Ray Fiske killing himself in front of her, and what happens in those kinds of circumstances is it shakes people truly to their core, and different things emerge. Paranoia, extreme emotional response….
TVGuide.com: She may have merely been revisiting other losses from her life. Todd: Yes, and also she needed to be able to have an emotional breakdown. Going back to that child she lost, a seminal moment in her life, was a way for her to access that. What we hope, and you’ve kind of tapped into it, is that for Patty, Ellen represents more than just another associate. She sees herself in Ellen as a younger female who has proven her mettle over time. There’s a lot to tap into in their relationship.
Daniel: Really, that story movement is about Patty’s character and psychology. It’s not about plot in any way.
TVGuide.com: OK, so it’s not like the baby was Frobisher’s, as some have speculated. Daniel: No, it’s just a real event in Patty’s past that deeply informs who she is.
Todd: One of the challenges of serialized storytelling is that it’s fun to have the audience guessing or speculating — “Maybe Patty was sister to the girl in Arlington?” The notion of this series, as introduced in the pilot, is one that we don’t try to force-feed [information]. We hope it’s not frustrating when you aren’t accurate or when you are accurate and you’re like, “I knew all along that was going to happen.”
Glenn: It’s been thrilling and gratifying that people have taken Patty’s words to heart to not trust anyone, and they have been looking for links and motives for everybody. People have given themselves over to the show in such a way that they’re adamantly trying to scour everything put in front of them and make sense of it all.
I told you it was pretty awesome right? This is only about 1/3 of the interview so head on over to TVGuide for the rest. Fingers crossed FX renews DAMAGES very very shortly.
FX’s incredibly intricate and deliciously diabolical first season of DAMAGES just finished and I’m still trying to piece it all together and catch my breath from all the twisty-turny awesomeness.
Quickly I think this is how it goes in one big long paragraph so get ready…
Patty hired Ellen to get to Katie who’s David’s sister and soon to be sister-in-law of Ellen in order to bring down Arthur Frobisher for screwing his employees out of their retirement funds somewhere in the ballpark of $500,000,000. Katie took money from Frobisher to open a restaurant but it was all because she was with Gregory Malina on that fateful night in Florida. Patty had Katie’s dog killed, blackmailed Frobisher’s lawyer Ray Fiske which led to his blowing his brains out in her office because she threatened to go public with the fact that he gave stock to and told to sell it to Gregory whom he was secretly in love with. George Moore worked for the SEC and leaked to Frobisher that they were investigating him which led to the selling of the stock which led to the lawsuit which was the catalyst for the show. Moore was working with Ellen to set up Frobisher until he was murdered by Frobisher’s hairy faced silent man who also killed Gregory after making a tape of all his secrets and leaving it with Katie who gave it to David the night he was murdered by the same hairy faced silent man and some jamoke. We all thought hairy faced silent man and some jamoke were also behind trying to kill Ellen in Patty’s apartment while Patty was at her beach house resting after witnessing Ray killing himself but in the end it wasn’t hairy faced Frobisher guy and some jamoke, it was Uncle Pete letting some other jamoke into the apartment to kill Ellen on Patty’s orders. Did I mention that hairy faced silent guy went back to Ellen’s apartment to get the flashlight left behind by the jamoke and turns out that not only is he Frobisher’s guy, he’s a police officer. What?!! Patty got Frobisher for 2 billion dollars, promised to seal all evidence against him but gave the confession tape of Gregory Malina to the DA whom she instructed to use come re-election time and hopefully sending Frobisher away for good. Probably don’t need to worry about that though because Frobisher was shot by Lawrence the ex-employee/mole who the rest of the employees cut out of the fortunes after discovering he was the leak in the case. Hollis Nye, the guy that warned Ellen in the premiere to not go work for Patty Hewes seemed all sorts of shady and pulled Ellen into a black car to find Mario Van Peebles and some other guy who are FBI agents trying to convince Ellen to help them investigate and nail Patty for Fraud, obstruction of justice and a couple other nasty little charges. Patty summons Ellen to the beach house where she tells her that yes, in fact she is regretful of what they did about Ray and that she wants her back at work. Ellen agrees and then we realize that she agreed because she now works as an informant for the FBI and was just given access to all of Hewes Associates resources to “prove Frobisher killed David” and obviously to screw Patty for trying to kill her in the process.
Phew… I think that about covers the mystery. Maybe?
I need to watch the whole season again because honestly, the timeline for this show is one of the most complex and impressive works of writing I’ve ever seen. The storylines were so deep and embeded within each other that I know I’ve missed a ton of things. The whole Florida business is still a little vague for me. I lost track of what happened there and why it was important anymore because of the twists and turns. Like I said, another viewing is in order!
So fingers crossed it gets picked up for a second season because there are a whole slew of things out there just floating about unanswered.
Obviously there’s the whole Patty/Ellen face off. Patty had a kid named Julia 35 years ago that was born DOA. Patty’s son came back to the apartment the night Ellen was attacked for a reason but it was never answered. Who is his Father? We know that Michael Nouri is his step-father but do we know that story at all? What else has Patty done in the past that led the FBI to her way before the Frobisher case? Why is hairy faced silent man a cop and what the frak is that all about? And lastly, what happened to Lyla and crazy ass?
I need a break after all this. Damages was amazing and I hope you all get the chance to marvel in its glory at some point.
NIP/TUCK is moving to Los Angeles from Miami and I’ve got a going away present for them you! Who wants to WIN NIP/TUCK Season 4 DVD’s?
Here’s how to win:
In the comments section please tell me which celebrity has the worst, most hideous, shouldn’t have paid for that plastic surgery. Everyone who leaves a comment will be entered to win. Contest runs until October 10th.
If FX keeps developing shows that sound more intersting than what the big networks are presenting, I may have to stop watching their parent channel Fox. This just in, Variety is reporting that FX has gone into development on a show called PARANOID.
FX is developing “Paranoid,” an edgy thriller with themes of privacy and spying, from “Fight Club” scribe Jim Uhls. The series is described as a modern-day “Parallax View,” centering on a surveillance agent who himself may be spied upon, all set against Patriot Act-America.
Sources say a pilot deal is likely but has not officially been ordered. “Paranoid” has had a long history, with a number of cable execs privately praising the script for months but also saying it was too dark to put on the air; in one scene, for instance, a man rips open his skin searching for an embedded surveillance device.
PETER FACINELLI has been working in film and television for quite some time now. If you’ve loved CAN’T HARDLY WAIT as much as I have, then you’ve grown to love and hate the roles he plays. On FX’s DAMAGES, he plays Greg Malina and once again it’s a character you want to slap one minute and bed the next. He walks a fine line between right and wrong, good and evil so honestly… he fits right in with the rest of the shady characters on this superb drama.
We got the chance to chat with Peter last week and while he couldn’t really spill any information for us as the season hits its back half but he was veery easy to talk to and as you’ll see there might even be a Jenni Garth cameo in there somewhere.
Question: How long of a run are you going to have on Damages? I know you’ve done five or six episodes, I believe. How long do you believe your character will be taking part in this season?
P. Facinelli: You know, I don’t know. Gregory is kind of torn between two sides right now and every time I flip the page, I wonder if I’m going to be in the next episode myself. So it’s all up in the air right now, but because my character pertains to this one particular case, I believe when the season is over, then my part would be over.
Question: It looks like Gregory is going to be deeper and more involved in the conspiracy than we maybe originally thought. Can you give us any insight into where it’s going with the rest of the episodes this season or what you have filmed so far?
P. Facinelli: Well, I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you. Like I said, he was in Florida. He knows what’s going on and he is being torn between two sides. And that’s pretty much all I can tell you. I can’t tell you any future episodes because I don’t want to ruin it for you. But he is, after Katie has been knocked out, pretty much the missing link in the whole case. (more…)
FX’s sickly funny IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA has it’s third season premiere tonight at 10pm. I was lucky enough to get the first 4 episodes ahead of time and I’m not in the least surprised that the gang has not lost its bite.
Dumpster babies, death, incest, it’s all there and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I heart this show and applaude its beyond un-PC approach to comedy. Last year when they pipe bombed that restaurant, I thought they couldn’t get any lower, but they always do! Remember cripple fights in the mall? How about $100 Baby and Sweet Dee’s roid rage? Genius!
If you’ve never seen IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA, please go out and buy the DVD box set of the first two seasons, it’s wicked cheap and well worth it. You’ll laugh until you cry and often throw up.
Sunny premieres tonight on FX at 10pm with 2 back-to-back episodes.
Ducky and GMMR are back with another TV Podcast and this time we’re tackling the nutjobs at Big Brother 8, Kathie’s been to K-Ville and back, and Dan’s been talking to some Damages folks. All of this and more in our TV Podcast #14.
TV Podcast 14: Big Brother 8 is discussed, GMMR’s visit to K-VILLE and PRISON BREAK, our upcoming red carpet PUSHING DAISIES event at NYTF, some recent interviews Ducky’s done with the DAMAGES cast and KYLE XY’s Matt Dallas, SUPERNATURAL semi-scoop and more.
Contest Time: We’re looking to name this here podcast and we’re looking for your suggestions. Please listen and participate - leave name suggestions in the comments section of this post.
Have a question for Ducky and GMMR? There are a couple ways to contact us:
Free Voice Mail (Comments/Questions):
This is Dan and Kathie’s favorite method of contact because it allows us to hear from you and we use these messages live on our podcast to answer your burning television questions. It’s FREE and you don’t have to do anything but click RECORD BY PHONE on the box below and it will walk you through how to contact us!
It’s super easy and free to leave us a message:
Step 1: Click on “Record by Phone”
Step 2: Dial the number shown and enter the four digit code when prompted
Step 3: Leave a message
Step 4: Listen to our next podcast to see if we answered your question
Hey gang, I know this is short notice but I didn’t get the chance to post about it yesterday. I’ll be doing a bloggers interview today with TATE DONOVAN from FX’s amazing thriller DAMAGES.
If you have any questions about his character Tommy and his recent return as Patty Hewes’ #2, leave them in the comments section. Want to know about life after Jimmy Cooper (The OC), let me know. I’m saving all of my questions for SPACE CAMP!
Please get questions in by Noon if possible. Sorry again for the short notice.
I didn’t get the chance to see last night’s DAMAGES so I don’t have any thoughts for you, instead I bring you an interview with Anastasia Griffith (Katie Connor) that I participated in.
Question: With growing up as the youngest child with a lot of older brothers, I was wondering growing up were they very over-protective of you or maybe too much so?
A. Griffith: Surprisingly, not so, actually. For people who don’t know, I’ve got six older brothers and I am the only girl and the youngest. I think secretly they were a lot more protective than they ever let on to me. You know, people have told me since, being an adult, that my brothers are fiercely protective of me, but they’ve never kind of let me know that, which I think is probably a good thing.
Question: In one of the interviews with your brother Jamie a few years ago he mentioned that your father was kind of very reluctant for him to go into acting. I was wondering if you met that same kind of issue?
A. Griffith: Dad has always been a businessman himself and he’s always just been a little bit cynical about the world of acting and I think for Jamie, Jamie is an incredibly bright guy and he had so many opportunities when he was younger and acting kind of grabbed his attention, as it did mine.
I think Dad is old school and he kind of, I think, thinks it’s more fitting for a daughter to go into acting than it is a for a son, but having said that, he’s done everything he can to encourage me to do other things. He’s got huge confidence in my intelligence and my ability to do things and also to act. But he just has no trust, I think, in the world of acting.
But, having said that, since Damages has taken off for me and it’s doing so well he’s actually written me a note recently saying congratulations and you, obviously, did the right thing. (more…)
FX has a goldmine with It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, a comic goldmine at least! This show is one of the nastiest, raunchiest, un-PC shows ever created. It takes the ideas Larry David throws out in Curb Your Enthusiasm and exploits worse than you can imagine. No topic is taboo for this show. Race, Religion, Sexuality, Gender, Disability, AIDS, you name it they’ll ruin it - in a good side splitting funny way!
It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia premieres September 13th but you can catch a Special Pre-Season Episode right now on their MySpace page.
The addition of Danny DeVito last season was a risky one but I think it paid off big time. He’s even more disgusting than Dennis, Charlie, Sweet Dee and Mac. If you’re not watching the show, you really need to start. You’ve been warned though, this is not for the PC person or those easily offended. If you can’t handle a cripple fight in the Mall food court or the accidental molatov cocktail-ing of an Arab man’s restaurant then tune in to The Ghost Whisperer!
Here are some very funny and almost perfect teaser ads for Season 3:
Last week I was on a press call with actor Noah Bean who plays David Connor on FX’s DAMAGES and it was a good time. Sometimes press conference calls can be tricky to navigate because each one has their own set of rules but this one was really laid back allowing Noah to hopefully feel more comfortable talking into a phone with faceless reporters on the other end. The key was that they didn’t mute the person asking the question so it allowed them to laugh or interact in a way that some conferences do not. There is a downside where someone coughs or types or sometimes has another phone conversation going but that didn’t happen this time. Regardless, thanks to FX and Noah Bean for allowing this call to happen.
If you’re not watching DAMAGES over on FX you need to stop reading this blog and get thee to a TV because it’s one of the most incredibly written and intensly acted shows on television. If you don’t get FX, try MyNetwork as they’ve begun airing reruns of the show.
I’ve eliminated which questions were asked by which reporters/bloggers to make for an easier read, it’s long so I’ll start with a question or two and then the rest will continue after the jump.
Question: What were your thoughts on A) joining the show where you know your character end is dead and B) that then potentially resulting in you not having as long as a run as other characters and I say potentially because we have no idea what’s going to happen?
N. Bean: I don’t really have any idea what’s going to happen either, which is amazing. But yes, it was kind of at first, when I first got the job, obviously in the pilot, we see what happens to David and it didn’t look so good. But at first, I was kind of thrilled because I thought this was just great. I get one season on this great show.
And then once we started shooting it, I was like, “Darn it, this stinks because,” it’s so great. It’s just gotten better and better and better, the show as we’ve continued shooting.
So it’s a little bit of a bummer, but I think it’s going to be sort of fascinating. I think the guys, our writers and our creators, have got some really cool story lines that are going to kind of build up to the end of the season and then like you said, I think that we’ve all kind of got no idea where this may go. So who knows? It may not be the complete end of David Conner.
Question: How did the Damages pilot script cross your path? What was the clincher for you to sign on to this project?
N. Bean: Basically, I just lucked out. I was the lucky one. They said yes to me, so I got it just in a typical way that my agent gave me the script. And I remember though when my agent gave it to me, he said, “This is really special and really good.” And I’ve been in New York since 2000, so it’s sort of rare that you get so few shows that shoot in New York.
So that to me was the first thing that it was something that I was really looking forward to try to find a show that keeps me in New York and not have to go to Montreal or L.A. And it just so happened that it was this fantastic script and so I was really lucky enough to get the part. I was finished as soon as I shot in New York, Glenn Close and probably one of the best pilot scripts, I bet.
Friday afternoon, I’ll be attending a conference call with actor Noah Bean from FX’s incredibly tense drama DAMAGES. Noah plays David Connor, legal pawn Ellen Parsons’ fiancee. I know we’ve only seen two episodes of Damages so far but FX has quite the track record and I’m thinking this show has the power to take over that other legal drama The Closer. Did you miss my pilot review of Damages? Read it!
If you have any questions for David or about Damages, please leave them in the comments field.
Entries (RSS)