After last year’s Comic-Con I was worn out, my flight to and from San Diego had been canceled and rescheduled, I was ready to slap anyone wearing a costume and I may or may not have made a commitment then and there to not attend this year. My partner in crime, Kath from Give Me My Remote felt the same way and so we went about our year not planning on returning to San Diego for 2009.

When I was laid off, the decision seemed like perfection. I would have less money for one and if I got a new job, chances were it would be closer to the Con and I wouldn’t have the time off available to me that I’ve had in the past. Obvious, right?

Flash-forward to the middle of July and I start regretting my decision. I’m still unemployed and with the Press Pass and a probable free flight I started wondering why the frak I didn’t go. The answer was simple though, I was competing in my first triathlon and that was Comic-Con weekend. It was a distraction for the actual weekend but not the time leading up to and during the start of SDCC09.

Once all of my blogger friends, PR folks from the networks and shows started plotting their schedules, the interviews, the press rooms, etc. I really started to have mini-panic attacks that I would be missing out on all the fun and yes, even the chaos.

Here are the things I’ll have missed most about not having been at Comic-Con this past weekend:

Obviously the list could go on for days but off the top of my head these are the things that annoyed me while I was at home all weekend. There are more online friends and PR people that I didn’t give a shout out to but I would have loved to hang with all of you as well and maybe next year we’ll be back in full swing! SDCC2010 or Bust!

*sigh*

Tonight my summer viewing schedule officially kicks into overdrive. Not only are summer staples So You Think You Can Dance and Big Brother 10 burning up my screen, it’s the premiere of Project Runway 5!

This is the first time all summer that I’m starting to feel overburndened by the amount of television programmed. I love that summer has become yet another bonafide season but I hate that every show I’m interested in seems to be jam packed onto the same nights. I’m not saying I have a solution or that programming on Friday or Saturday nights in the summer would be any better than what we’re presented with but damn, it makes me anxious to think about the number of shows I need to keep track of.

To give you a rundown, here are the shows I’m interested in and their nights. It’s banoodles I tell you, banoodles!

Mondays: The Closer, The Middleman, Weeds, Secret Diary of a Call Girl (though I’m totes behind)
Tuesdays: Wipeout, Big Brother 10
Wednesdays: So You Think You Can Dance, Big Brother 10, Project Runway, Shear Genius
Thursdays: So You Think You Can Dance, Swingtown, Burn Notice, Fear Itself
Fridays: Doctor Who, Psych
Saturdays: Nothing
Sundays: Generation Kill, Mad Men, Design Star, Next Food Network Star

Surely I’m missing some shows and obviously you can tell I’ve already left some in the dust. My Boys and Kathy Griffin, sorry I’ll catch you in a marathon or on DVD, I don’t have the time. In Plain Sight, you just couldn’t hold my attention no matter how hot some of those leads are… sorry! I get brutal with the cuts in the summer and surely more will come. Just give me time, heat makes me a total raving bitch so I’ll leave a show in the dust without hesitation. Fate and Ducky are two fickle bitches!

For those of you not going to COMIC-CON this year, consider yourselves lucky because if you knew the anxiety and rage the scheduling has caused me and my fellow TV Bloggers, you’d be fine just staying home. There are so many TV panels this year and so many things I want to do that either overlap each other or run too close to ever hope of getting in, so trying to decide what to see is like Sophie’s Choice up in this place.

Here are the panels I’m interested in attending and as you’ll see, it’s nearly impossible to attend half of the things I’m excited about.

*Item’s in BOLD are panels I’m currently planning on seeing but I promise you, it will change before leaving next week.

THURSDAY
10-11am Kings
12-2pm Doctor Who/Torchwood
2-3pm The Middleman
4:30-5:30pm True Blood
5:45-6:45pm Dexter

FRIDAY
10:15-11:15am Big Bang Theory
12:30-1:15pm Spaced
1:30-2:30pm Joss Whedon
1:45-2:45pm EW Showrunners
3:30-4:45pm Family Guy
4:30-5:30pm Bones
5:30-6:30pm 24
6:30-8:00pm Kevin Smith Makes Porno
6:30-7:15pm Prison Break
7:15-8:15pm MST3K
10:15-11:45pm Spaced Screening
10:45-Midnight Dr. Horrible Screening

SATURDAY
10:45-11:45pm Heroes
11:30-12:30pm Sarah Connor Chronicles
12:00-1:00pm Lost
12:30-1:30pm Kyle XY
12:45-1:45pm The Office
1:00-2:00pm Dollhouse
2:15-3:15pm Battlestar Galactica
3:15-4:15pm Pushing Daisies
3:30-4:30pm Chuck
4:45-5:45pm Fringe
6:00-7:00pm TV Guide Panel
7:15-8:15pm Sarah Silverman

SUNDAY
10:00-11:00am Smallville
10:30-11:30am It’s Always Sunny
11:15-12:15pm Supernatural
11:30-12:00pm Hamlet 2
1:00-1:30pm Friday the 13th
4:00-5:00pm Buffy the Musical

Do you see how agonizing it is to try and plan your days? Saturday is seriously OOC and I’m sure many decision will change in the spur of the moment. What you don’t see on here are the parties we’re RSVP’d for and the Press Rooms we’re hoping to do as well. Add press rooms for most shows on Saturday and you’d have to have 3 Buffy Bots to help you cover it all.

Regardless, I’ll be there with many blogger friends and we’ll be podcasting every day and recording as many panels as possible to post here on Ducky Does TV so stay tuned!

We threatened to never do another TV Talk Podcast if you didn’t flock to iTunes and leave us comments… well I’m happy to report that you love us as much as we love you! Thanks to your generosity, we are back and this week’s podcast is a lot of fun!

We revise our thoughts on Swingtown now that we’re both completely caught up (and loving it), we talk about my chat with Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica) and her stint on Burn Notice plus some scoop on her new Fox pilot Inseparable.

Next we tackle one of the most talked about Fall pilots, J.J. Abrams FRINGE! Kath and I will review the plot, the mystery and the hotness that is Josh Jackson but don’t worry we don’t spoil anything for you! We’re good like that!

Then it’s time for some listener emails because you guys are cramazing!

Who wants to talk Comic-Con? No? Tough because we run down the shows that will be in San Diego and vent our frustrations over the scheduling. If you’re going to be in town for Comic-Con and you’re a reader or listener, let us know… we’d love to see you!

Before wrapping up this week we have a little fun with our TV version of F, Marry, Kill! That’s right, we each pick one we’d boink, one we’d marry and one we’d go Dexter Morgan on. join in the fun and leave us some comments about who you’d F, Marry and Kill based on our choices. We’ll read some of them on the air in our next podcast.

It’s TV Talk with GMMR & Ducky #24!

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Listen Online: TV Talk with GMMR & Ducky #25

Interested in catching up on our past podcasts? Head on over to the podcast page where you can listen to all of our previous episodes.

Have a question for Ducky and GMMR? There are a couple ways to contact us: (more…)

If you’re not watching ABC Family’s new hilarious action-adventure/sci-fi/comedy THE MIDDLEMAN you’re missing out. It’s pretty damn great and one of my favorite things about the show is the character Wendy Watson played to the snarkiest by actress Natalie Morales.

Last week I participated in a call with Natalie and she was fun, personable and willing to chat… that’s how I like my girls. Guess which question was mine!

Panel: In real life, how are you with weird things, like are you jaded or do you usually freak out?

N. Morales: What do you mean weird things?

Panel: Like your character, she’s just jaded.

N. Morales: You know what? No, I grew up as an only child and so I’ve always kind of been curious and interested in a lot of stuff. In that, I think Wendy and I have a lot in common.

Panel: What do you enjoy most about playing her?

N. Morales: I think, I get to have fun with her. They kind of let me have free range on the comedic styling’s of Wendy Watson. I get to deliver lines in a crazy fashion if I feel like it. I love doing that. I love the fact that she’s sort of the comedic relief of the show in a way, even though Ida pretty much steals the show. She’s very funny.

Panel: What’s the stunt work like?

N. Morales: The stunt work is pretty interesting, actually. Greg Burnette, who’s our stunt coordinator is just amazing. If you look him up, …300,000 credits. He just rules. He teaches me stuff and I actually get to do a lot of my own stunts. I’ve done wire work and a bunch of things like that, a lot of falling and yes, I actually love the stunt work. I really do.

(more…)

We promised you a SUMMER TV PREVIEW podcast and here it is! Kath and I run through all of the summer premiere dates for the new and returning shows as well as give you our input on our faves and more importantly the ones we would never watch in a million years! It’s great fun…

So You Think You Can Dance, The Closer, Big Brother, My Boys, The Mole, The Next Food Network Star, Design Star, Swingtown, Fear Itself, Army Wives, Ice Road Truckers, America’s Best Dance Crew, Wipeout, Flashpoint, Psych, Monk, Mad Men, The Middleman, Burn Notice and more… there’s no reason to be outside when what’s on TV is this hot!

It’s TV Talk with GMMR & Ducky #24!

Subscribe and Listen via iTunes

Listen Online: TV Talk with GMMR & Ducky #24

Interested in catching up on our past podcasts? Head on over to the podcast page where you can listen to all of our previous episodes.

Have a question for Ducky and GMMR? There are a couple ways to contact us: (more…)

If you missed the premiere of ABC Family’s THE MIDDLEMAN you missed something pretty frakkin’ fun. Hottie McHotsalot Matt Keeslar stars as the mysterious man of the law, The Middleman, and he sat down with a bunch of us earlier this week to talk about what makes the show so special and even spoils us one some of the upcoming episodes. He’ll chat about his costar Natalie Morales and whether or not their characters will ever hook up.

Sadly, I could only sit in on the first 25 minutes of the call because I had a meeting at my real job (WTF is that all about?) and I didn’t get to ask my questions. Luckily they were pretty much covered throughout the course of the interview.

On with the interview:

Panel: What is your favorite part about working on the show so far?

M. Keeslar: My favorite part about working on the show is the great group of people that Javier, the creator, has assembled for us. It’s an amazing crew, a really terrific cast. Natalie Morales plays Wendy, the lead in the show, and she’s a very talented newcomer, along with Brit Morgan and Jake Smollett, who are also young and very talented actors. We have Mary Pat Gleason, who is playing my android assistant, Ida, and she is a really fun, terrific actress to work with, much more experienced than probably any of us on set.

The writing team has been really terrific too. They’ve put together what I think are progressively better scripts. Even though I was much enamored with the original pilot script, I think that the script has gotten better as they’ve taken more chances and looked at new and interesting ways of spinning the iconic comic book hero.

Panel: Since the comic book fan base is so passionate; did you feel any pressure playing a comic book character?

M. Keeslar: The short answer to that is no. I didn’t feel a lot of pressure coming from the comic book fan base. I think that, like all fan bases, some people will love “The Middleman” and some people will have difficulties with it. It’s a bit tongue-in-cheek, this comic book super hero, so, it is, in a way, both an ironic statement about comic heroes in general, and also a really passionate and loving look at comics and all of their multi-facets. It’s a loving portrayal, but also a lampoon at the same time. We’re taking a look at it through the eyes of Wendy Watson, your average, everyday art school graduate and how she sees the iconic comic book character played by myself, “The Middleman.”

Panel: We interviewed Javier (creator of the show) a couple of weeks back and he talked about how he knew you found “The Last Days of Disco” and you’re the one that he wanted for this role. Can you talk a little bit about how you were approached for this and what your initial thoughts were?

M. Keeslar: I was sent a script that my manager said you have to read, because it’s great. I sat down as soon as I got it, read it that night, called my manager and said okay, I want to play this part, and I didn’t really care that much about what channel it was going to be on, or any of the other details involved. All I knew was that this was a great part and a great part for me to play. So I think the next day, they set up a breakfast with Javier and I met him for coffee and he basically said we really want you to play this part. That you’re going to have to go through the whole audition process so that ABC Family can feel like they’re participants in this process, but basically, you’re the guy that we want to do this.

I felt very confident going into the audition, even though it was quite a strenuous audition. I had to learn a lot of dialogue, but I felt, from the get-go, that this was a part that I could really play and I could do justice to.

Panel: You’ve had a lot of eclectic roles in the past. Is that something that led you to really enjoy auditions for this role, and how is it different from other things that you’ve played so far?

M. Keeslar: This character is very different from other things that I’ve played and that’s by design, in a way. I like to look for different and challenging roles to play, just because it keeps my interest and it keeps me excited about doing something new, and I think that, in a way, the various and eclectic roles that you mentioned from my past have helped, because “The Middleman” is kind of a jack-of-all-trades. He knows a little bit about everything.

So, being able to do stunt work was important, and that’s something that I had experienced in the past. Being able to do a large amount of dialogue and learn it relatively quickly was something that I had experienced on “The Last Days of Disco,” as one of the other interviewers mentioned. Learning how to play a comic character who takes himself seriously was something that I’ve also been working on with other characters in another project.

I think that the eclectic characters that I’ve played in the past have helped me to put together “The Middleman” and, even though he isn’t a character all in and of himself, he kind of knows a little bit of everything. (more…)

Quickly I just wanted to say that I had zero expectations and even less intention of watching ABC Family’s new comedy THE MIDDLEMAN but after stumbling upon the pilot last week, I’m proud to say I loved it!

The premiere is tonight (8pm on ABC Family) and if you’re a fan of sassy banter, goofy gizmos, ridiculous alien encounters, some not-so-family innuendo and B-movies I’m asking you to tune in.

One of my all-time favorite male hotties, Matt Keeslar stars as the incredibly dapper and fast talking Middleman who recruits a down on her luck artist, Wendy Watson (played by the surprisingly hilarious Natalie Morales) into a world of alien hunting and old school crime fighting.

Wendy is a bitter temp with a penchant for dating questionably gay film students and kicking ass as a gamer and her interplay with The Middleman is what makes this show more than schlocky (or sappy) family fare. She’s greatness folks!

The premiere focuses on recruiting Wendy and hunting down a genetically modified gorilla who has a thing for mob movies. Sure it’s wacky and absurd but it works. Plus, look for a cameo by 24’s amazing Mary Lynn Rajskub!

The Middleman is created by one time LOST writer/producer Javier Grillo-Marxuach based on his graphic novel of the same name.