By Lisa de Moraes
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., July 17
Heading to NBC's "Bionic Woman" Q&A session at Summer TV Press Tour 2007, we couldn't help but feel for the producers of this remake who thought they'd dodged a bullet when they changed BW's deaf sister (played in the pilot by a non-deaf actress, which understandably did not play well with the deaf community) into BW's non-deaf sister -- only to have Isaiah Washington dumped in their laps by the new co-chairman of NBC, Ben Silverman.
Clearly life for the producers of "Bionic Woman" is going to be one damn thing after another.
The sister is no longer deaf because the chimpanzees have been written out of the show, executive producer Jason Smilovic explained to The Reporters Who Cover Television.
BW was to have landed a job working with lab chimps because she could speak to them in sign language, which she'd learned because her little sister was deaf. No chimps, no deaf sister. Deaf Sister is now Computer-Hacking Sister, the reporters were told. They swallowed that without protest.
But, on the Isaiah Washington front, one reporter wondered whether the producers weren't worried people might boycott the show to protest his hiring.
The former "Grey's Anatomy" star, you'll recall, used a slur against gays, apparently in reference to cast mate T.R. Knight, during a fight with another cast member. Washington apologized, then used the slur again at the Golden Globe Awards -- by way of denying he'd said it the first time around. He apologized again and began to do the Stations of the Cross as set out by ABC, including counseling and cutting an anti-homophobic public service announcement, which ran during a "Grey's" repeat. So far so good. But ABC decided not to renew Washington's contract, and since then he's been recanting his apology, saying he was set up by Knight, who masterminded his removal, and suggesting racism played a part.
"We feel he is the right actor for the role, but also we believe in second chances," Smilovic told the reporters here Tuesday. "We are not here to make judgments."
"When somebody does something wrong and you have a systemic problem, the best way to change that problem is not by casting them outside of the system," Smilovic continued, now on a roll.
"It's by allowing them to make amends, allowing them to make reparations and to do the right thing. So rather than excommunicate someone, we felt it was better to give him a second chance."
Bad tactical error on Smilovic's part -- particularly the "excommunicate" gag.
"If it had been a white actor repeatedly and unapologetically using the N-word, would you be so forgiving, and do you think NBC would be . . . issuing press releases [about] how they were able to grab an actor whom they rather blindly view as such a 'get' at the moment?" a reporter asked heatedly.
Smilovic said he could not answer "a theoretical question."
"Okay. To put it in different terms, do you think that the casting of Isaiah at this time shows any disrespect to the gay community?" the reporter shot back.
"Absolutely not," Smilovic said. "We embrace the gay community. We are hoping that they are going to watch the show and we are in no way making any judgments or statements . . . about what was said or what was done. This is about making a television series. It's about making some great entertainment."
* * *
Dick Wolf, creator of the "Law & Order" franchise and the TV Industry Grump most loved by The Reporters Who Cover Television -- which is odd given that he consistently treats them like relatives who were collectively dropped on their heads as children -- was here Tuesday for his annual trotting out of new "Law & Order" stars.
This time his gang onstage included Jeremy Sisto, who is joining "Law & Order" as top cop. Wolf also announced that Linus Roache, Sisto's cast mate from canceled NBC drama "Kidnapped," is joining the cast as a prosecutor. Sam Waterston has been given a transfer on the mothership, to play the DA -- a job formerly held by Fred Thompson.
Naturally, the Thompson Question came up. The former senator has developed symptoms of a presidential bid, which would limit NBC Universal's ability to monetize episodes in which he's featured, owing to that pesky equal-time rule that requires broadcasters and possibly cablecasters, depending on which FCC staffer you talk to, to give equal airtime to other political contenders. NBC could handle this by giving all the other candidates roles in prime-time shows -- Rudy Giuliani on "The Office"?
Traditionally, at some point in every Wolf press tour Q&A, Wolf whips out a piece of paper or index card from a pocket and reads a statement he's written on it. It's a point of pride among the reporters to be the one who asks Wolf the question that produces the written statement. Yes, the press tour is weird.
Anyway, this time it was the Fred Thompson question. Wolf read the statement, presumably prepared with the approval of his bosses at NBC Universal:
The equal-time requirement applies when the person has legally qualified as an official candidate in a relevant state -- for example, having his or her name formally approved to be on a state's primary ballot -- not merely when he/she declares his or her intent to run. If Fred Thompson formally announces his intention to run for president, NBC will not schedule any further repeats of "Law & Order" featuring Mr. Thompson beyond those already scheduled, which conclude on Saturday, September 1st.
But what about Thompson's "Law & Order" repeats on cable? Wolf read:
The equal-time requirement does not apply to programming on national cable networks, including cable runs of the "Law & Order" programs.
And how about Thompson episodes sold into syndication on broadcast TV stations? On this one, Wolf grew dodgy:
We have been anticipating Mr. Thompson's decision and have taken appropriate steps consistent with FCC regulations.
No one asked him to explain. Instead, they wanted to know whether, given that he's cast Sisto and Roache, that means he was a fan of "Kidnapped."
* * *
MSNBC on-air talent Keith Olbermann's love for Fox News Channel on-air talent Bill O'Reilly is like "a virus feels about the host."
O'Reilly, who has the most watched show on any cable news network, and Olbermann, who does not, have been locked in a clash of the titans that some have credited with growing Olbermann's "Countdown" ratings.
"My gratitude to him has increased with every passing week," Olbermann told TV critics here. He'd come to the tour to announce he will moderate the AFL-CIO's Democratic presidential forum on Aug. 7, telecast live from Chicago on MSNBC. "I used to say I owed him a percentage of my salary. Actually I started with 'I need to send him a fruit basket.' Then I went up to a percentage of the salary. And now it's just, you know, good ol' Bill -- writes half my material for me."
Later, their kerfuffle erupted again when someone from O'Reilly's fan base left a little "dropping" -- in the press room at the Beverly Hilton -- in the form of a small stack of fliers featuring four racing horses, representing the four cable news nets at 8 p.m.
One was being ridden by O'Reilly, one by CNN's Paula Zahn, one by CNN Headline News's Nancy Grace. The fourth had Olbermann's face on its butt. And underneath, the words: "Olbermann has placed 4th in the 25-54 demo 24 percent of the time since the beginning of June."
FYI, the 25-to-54 age bracket is the target demographic of news programming. This claim seems to hold true for "same day" viewing, but these days the currency of television is "live plus seven days" of viewing, and in those parameters, Olbermann's show slipped to No. 4 just once in that period of time.
An MSNBC rep noted Olbermann's numbers in the age bracket are up 54 percent year to year, while FNC's are flat.
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