Viacom's evil spin fairies have not allowed Moonves to appear on stage at this press tour because of his tendency to say something worth reporting, which would break the curse.
On Thursday, Moonves sat at the back of the ballroom looking relaxed, while the charming UPN Princess Dawn Ostroff did her best to not make news, so as to please the Viacom spin fairies.
Ostroff did insist that UPN "is not a farm system for CBS" and that although she is "thrilled" the critics like Rock's new show and think it's good enough to put on CBS -- which, she noted, was the top-rated network last season -- "we got it, we produced it and we are broadcasting it." But even at their groggiest, critics were skeptical because they know that HRH Moonves, sitting in the back of the room, is the guy who ultimately calls the shots. And the fact that he wasn't taking the stage to answer any questions about CBS or UPN was, for critics who tend to love a good conspiracy theory, like throwing the raw flesh of unicorns to the royal piranha.
Critics were more impressed, however, when Rock told them that although, yes, Ostroff had traipsed after him like he was the Holy Grail, what got him really excited was that she had been keen on the pilot script and not just the idea of working with a star like Chris Rock. "I responded to that," he said.
UPN has scheduled Rock's series at 8 p.m. Thursdays, where, some have speculated, it could do serious damage to NBC's ratings-starved "Joey," a spin-off of "Friends," which owned the time slot for years. This would be a blow to the network, whose Thursday lineup for decades defined "Must See TV."
Asked what he thought of "Joey," Rock said, "I've never seen it. Sorry, is that offensive?" Which didn't play well with the crowd, but you can't bat 1,000.
While Rock is on board to do all the voiceover work on the series (a la "Wonder Years"), he probably will not make an appearance on the show, said show co-creator and executive producer Ali LeRoi. Although LeRoi was on stage for the Q&A session along with executive producer Howard Gewirtz and the show's ensemble cast, almost all the questions were directed to Rock.
"Chris is actually a distraction on the camera," LeRoi said. ". . . In order for people to get to know this cast, he can't be standing there because it's really no different than this press conference -- the majority of attention will go to the famous guy."
Which made the critics ashamed. And they all lived happily ever after.
As CBS's new late-night project "Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson" continues to try to get its footing, former "Tonight Show" executive Gary Considine has been named co-executive producer.
Peter Lassally, who as senior vice president for producer Worldwide Pants Inc. oversees "Late Late Show," also assumes the title of executive producer, thus assuring his complete control of the show.
Considine replaces executive producer Todd Yasui, who has worked for Jay Leno and joined "Late Late Show" in 2002. Yasui, a former Washington Post staffer, leaves the show six months after Ferguson took over from Craig Kilborn as host. A spokesman for Worldwide Pants told The Post's John Maynard that the company chose not to renew Yasui's contract.
The announcement was first reported on the Web site TVBarn.com.
Lassally, a legend in late night who worked with Johnny Carson for 23 years, is a big backer of Ferguson and was instrumental in getting the comedian his new gig. Many critics viewed Ferguson, best known in this country for his role as Nigel Wick on "The Drew Carey Show," as an unlikely replacement for Kilborn.
In another move, Mike Armstrong recently replaced Hugh Fink as head writer of the show. Armstrong's most recent writing credit was the short-lived NBC sitcom "Watching Ellie," starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
"Late Late Show" is averaging 1.8 million viewers this year, up about 9 percent from 2004. NBC's "Late Night With Conan O'Brien," which airs in the same 12:35 a.m. time slot, has averaged 2.5 million viewers this year.
