WALSH’S ‘PRIVATE PRACTICE’
The name of the much-anticipated Grey’s Anatomy spin-off, previously known around here as Addison, Kellerman, and Benny, was revealed to media buyers to be Private Practice. The series, which focuses on Kate Walsh’s neo-natal surgeon as she moves to the city of Angels, is being touted as taking Dr. Addison Forbes Montgomery out of the realm of “nightmarish medical emergencies” (but no zombies, yet) and into a setting that “less hardcore medical drama fans will appreciate.”
Translation: Less blood & jargon, more soap ‘n’ skin, and from even more ripping off Scrubs. Y’all know that episode where Turk thinks his brother (D.L. Hughley) has a great marriage and life, one worth emulating, but it turns out his brother’s getting divorced and his life kind of sucks? That’s pretty much the description of the backdoor pilot as reported by the L.A. Times, except in this scenario, D.L. Hughley is played by Taye Diggs, and is not, in fact, Addison’s brother. The two-hour backdoor pilot will premiere on May 10th. Oh, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s hosting the next Grey’s highlight show, “Grey’s Anatomy: Every Moment Counts” on April 12th.
E=MY PRECIOUS (SQUARED)
As you can probably guess from that terrible but too easy title, Andy Serkis, best known as Smeagol/Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, signed up to play Albert Einstein in Einstein and Eddington. The tv movie is the latest joint BBC/HBO production, and also stars Time Travellin’ Dr. David Tennant (Not a real doctor) as the other half of this buddy-flick for physicists, Sir Arthur Eddington. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the film depicts the World War I correspondence and relationship between the German-born Einstein, a patent clerk developing his theory of relativity, and the British Eddington, a prominent astrophysicist who helped prove that Albert’s concepts and introduce Einsten’s theories to the world. (And they also fought crime!) I don’t know too much about Eddington, but Serkis is a perfect choice to play Einstein, and I’m a physics nerd who knows very little about physics. I’m psyched.
DANSON, CLOSE, CAUSE “DAMAGES”
FX, in its continuing attempt to fill the gaps soon to be left by Nip/Tuck and The Shield, has picked up Damages, the previously untitled legal show starring Glenn Close. Damages stars Rose Byrne as a (circle one: new, fresh-faced, beautiful) attorney who winds up working for the (pick one: best, foremost, hardest-working) high-stakes litigator in the (tri-State area, county, 12 Colonies). Said litigator is played by Close, and the first season chronicles their lawsuit against a (mysterious, aggressive, ruthless) business titan played by Ted Danson. Danson’s character? Probably has an agenda. Damages also stars Tate Donovan, who is once again allowed around large sums of money. Somebody forgot to call Newport Beach for a reference check!
HATERS OF HAGGIS, REJOICE! HATERS OF KUTCHER…NOT SO MUCH
The Real Wedding Crashers, the latest reality prank show from the creative geniuses that introduced “punk’d” to the national lexicon (Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg), will premiere Monday, April 23rd, at 10 P.M. on NBC. The show, which features performers “going undercover as wedding guests and staff to save them from run-of-the-mill boredom,” replaces Paul Haggis Does The Departed¸aka The Black Donnellys (which I only saw two and a half episodes of, and boy, did that show have absolutely no fucking clue how to score a series about Irish mobsters in New York). While I think Wedding Crashers would be funnier if the bride and groom weren’t in on the joke (they are), if I were Aaron “Studio 60” Sorkin replaced first by the man responsible for Crash, and then by Kelso, I’d probably pick up the crack pipe again. (And maybe order a hooker.)
TIMM SHARP, ROOMMATE FROM “HELL”
The love on CHUD for Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared is well documented, and as the years have gone by since those shows were cut down like a good idea in the first year of the Bartlet administration, pretty much every cast member on both of those shows have made their way to different high-profile projects. Timm Sharp, who played the quirky and lovable musician Marshall on Undeclared is the latest Apatow alum to return to our screens – he’s been cast in CBS’s I’m In Hell opposite doomed-to-forever-be-called pie-fucker Jason Biggs. I’m In Hell stars Biggs as a dead Wall Street exec sentenced to serve eternal damnation in a literal version of Hell…on Earth. Sharp plays Biggs’ roommate, described by Zap2it as “particularly hellish.” On first glance, this seems like a show where the actors will elevate the concept, and Biggs didn’t do much for me when it was announced. However, I think Sharp’s great, and he should to quite well with this – at least enough for me to check out an episode of this if it gets picked up.