The TV column live

Columnist Lisa de Moraes was online Friday, Oct. 23 at 1 p.m. ET to take your questions about the drama, comedy and heartbreak of the world of television -- both onscreen and behind-the-scenes.

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Annandale, Va.: Hi Lisa,

Yesterday I got a flyer in the mail from a pizza restaurant in the area. It had a postive review quote from the Post, the Washingtonian, and...Jennifer Love Hewitt, "star of Ghost Whisperer." Makes me want to run out and try it! But, I wanted to ask you if saw her and a tense Patricia Arquette onstage at the Emmy's together? I got the feeling the Medium wasn't happy about being with the Ghost Whisperer...

Lisa de Moraes: Hi. Quite the contrary.( well, THAT's quite a segue!) Arquette and the show's exec producer, Glenn Gordon Caron seemed very pleased to have been picked up by CBS, given that NBC wanted to give the show only a short order. CBS produces the show and now that they are airing in the fold, as it were, the chances for survival, and for being taken care of promo-wise, etc. are much better. Did you see Arquette when she was on Craig Ferguson's CBS late night show --or maybe it was Letterman? Anyway, at first she looked like she would rather be anywhere else -- and he did too, by the way (I don't think he's a big fan of getting stuck plugging CBS primetime shows by pretending to be very excited to have cast members on his talk show). But after a few minutes she relaxed and lost that deer-caught-in-headlights look. I'm guessing Arquette was just nervous being up on stage on live TV during the Emmycast. A lot of actors are no good without a script and re-takes...

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Atlanta, Ga.: Is the prize for Survivor still $1 million? Shouldn't it be more by now. Like $1 million AND you get to keep the island?

Lisa de Moraes: "Survivor" still hands out one of the biggest cash prizes of any reality series. Of course a million dollar recording contract at the end of "Idol" is more valuable because you are launching a career. On the other hand, Elizabeth Hasselbeck launched a career off of her "Survivor" non-win -- and marrying well...

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Alexandria, Va.: Your royal pookness, any chance the Centers for Disease Control can develop a vaccine against the ravages of NBC Universal programming? You would think it would be impossible to muck up the scheduling of a basic cable service such as the Weather Channel.

But no! First, they moved their obnoxious TODAY show weatherman onto their morning programming. It was amusing at first to see Al Roker be his funny perky self doing pre-recorded schlock, followed by Stephanie Abrams solemnly describe death and destruction by flooding. But the bad taste fun quickly became annoying.

And now I see that they have decided to start showing OLD MOVIES in the evening on Fridays. What The Fahrenheit?!

While it's nice to see J. Fred Muggs working at NBC again, why did they move him into programming?

Lisa de Moraes: NBC/Universal purchased the network and now they're looking to use it as a promotional platform for other properties like Roker, and I'm guessing to goose low-rated time periods with "weather-related" movies from their Universal vault. But trying to convince us that "Misery" is a "weather movie" because it opens with a blizzard is something of a stretch....

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Pacific, NW: So I hear Lauren Graham is joining 'Parenthood' -- I'm excited to see her on TV again... except when is it supposed to air?

Lisa de Moraes: "Parenthood" was originally on the fall schedule, then it got pulled to midseason because of the illness of Maura Tierney, then she had to drop out because of her cancer and Graham was cast in the role. Midseason means any time after Premiere Week and, given how NBC's new programs are performing on the schedule this fall, I'm guessing that means "sooner" rather than "later. But, in this case, there is a lot of re-shooting involved because an actress in a prominent role had to be replaced.

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Seattle, Wash.: NBC seems to be mostly developing multi-camera sitcoms next season. Can the a schedule with a mix of mainstream sitcoms and niche single camera ones (The Office, 30 Rock) work together?

Lisa de Moraes: CBS tried it last season with "Worst Week" on Mondays, in the company of "Big Bang Theory" and "2.5 Men" etc. Tanked. ABC is trying it now with "Modern Family, "The Middle" and "Cougar Town" -- all single cams with no laugh-track -- in the company of "Hank" which is a multi-cam sitcom with a laugh track. So far "Hank" is the one that's tanking... One more and we've got a trend story...

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The origin of Pookie: Lisa, the death of Soupy Sales reminds me that he addressed others as Pookie. Was this his own word or did it come from somewhere else?

Lisa de Moraes: I wish I knew, but I don't. But thank you for bring it up.

Let us take a moment to remember the late Soupy Sales:

Pie-splattered comedian Soupy Sales dies at 83 (Post, Oct. 23)

...and Pookie the Lion

Pookie the lion

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Hudson Valley, N.Y.: Is "Fringe" doing well enough to hang on? Do you think its baseball-related hiatus will harm it?

Lisa de Moraes: Yes, "Fringe" is doing well enough to hang on. There's not too many viewers but "what there is, is choice" or however the line goes... demographically, it's great so far as Fox is concerned... Scripted series on Fox often have a tough time coming back from baseball, but remember Fox has less baseball these days, so hopefully when the pre-empted shows come back, they won't take such a ratings dip...

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Potomac Falls, Va.: I voted for Sara Palin getting the biggest benefit in the poll today but it could actually do her damage if she continues her total idiot shtick she was rocking during and right after the election. I wish that woman would just go away, she's really doing the rest of us no favors!

Lisa de Moraes: So far on this week's poll, most people think Palin stands to gain the most by her first-ever meeting with Oprah Winfrey. Don't forget to weigh in with your vote.. It will be interesting to watch the two of them each try to out-nice the other...

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"..."Hank" which is a multi-cam sitcom with a laugh track...": I suspect Hank is tanking because it NEEDS a laugh track...

Lisa de Moraes: Yes, it's not tanking because of the multi cameras or because of the laugh track. It's tanking because it's horrid -- writing, cast -- everything is wrong. How about this -- they reworked the pilot and re-cast the kids and it came out worse than the original pilot....

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Chattanooga, Tenn: When will NBC be desperate enough to start a "Biggest Loser" companion show where fit people compete to see who can put on the most weight. I would so watch that!

Lisa de Moraes: Doesn't some network already air an eating competition series?

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Alexandria, Va.: Despite being an old codger and half-century Washington Post subscriber, I really like the changes of the Post's redesigned look. However, one thing missing is your image over your TV Column, which is supposed to differentiate straight news from opinion.

We fans know you are beautiful no matter what you look like, so if you're reticent about submitting a photo to the Post for use, please get yourself to a theme park or shopping mall and have a caricaturist do a Sietsemesque line drawing to help fulfill our Pookie fantasies.

Lisa de Moraes: Thank you for noticing. I think we should use the Pookie Lion for the time being...

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Ah, the irony: I just finished watching one of the best written episodes of "Grey's Anatomy" and Katherine Heigl wasn't in it (because she's off being a movie star). Is it okay for me to laugh?

Lisa de Moraes: Golly, you sat through last night's episode? I didn't make it past the first few minutes. What a gore-fest. Every episode this week makes me feel faint. Seriously. They really seem to be ratcheting up the gore in a bid to ratchet up the ratings this season. I was not aware Heigl wasn't in it because I didn't get that far.. I watched a few minutes at the top, a few in the middle and a few at the end. I gather Meredith is in a pregnancy-hiding wheelchair after giving part of her liver to her father?

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Herndon, Va.: Why is NCIS shown in re-runs on USA network all the time? That show isn't even that good when runs the first time on CBS.

Lisa de Moraes: And yet, one of the biggest reasons USA is among the most watched cable networks is all those "NCIS" reruns. We all write about USA's original scripted programs. But they haven't got that many; meanwhile the network does have hours and hours -- and hours -- of "NCIS". "NCIS" is the little show that built USA... I believe all those reruns on USA are among the reasons the original "NCIS," over on CBS, is now, in its sixth season -- or seventh, or whatever it's up to -- clocking its biggest audience in its history.

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Washington, D.C.: Everybody else at The Post seems to have a line drawing face shot. What about Madam de Moraes? We want to see her too. What gives?

Lisa de Moraes: It's being worked on as we chat...

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Rockville, Md.: Tom Shales had a recent article where he talked about Comcast's possible purchase of NBC/Universal. Shales seemed to think Comcast would/could reinvigorate NBC's near-dead lineup, and could possibly even end Jay Leno's hold on the 10 p.m. time slot.

Are you as optimistic that any of that could happen?

washingtonpost.com: A Deal for NBC Could Be Comcastic (Post, Oct. 16)

Lisa de Moraes: When you have a change in ownership you no longer are dealing with people who are invested in the decisions (cough*Leno*cough)that were made before. So Leno would stay on the air if they thought it made sense, but Leno would not stay on the air just because someone couldn't admit they'd made a mistake...That said, NBC may eventually develop a hit series, but to the point of NBC's top brass saying they want to be No. 1 in the ratings, I don't see how that can happen, on a weekly and season basis, while they've got 5 hours of Leno on their primetime lineup. NBC can make money off of Leno at these numbers, because the show is so cheap to produce and it will produce original episodes for most of the year. But can NBC win the week in the ratings with five hours of "The Leno Show" numbers? Nope.

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Silver Spring, Md.: Wait -- I thought we had established in a previous chat that you are the spitting image of Kay Francis:

Kay Francis

Lisa de Moraes: Yes, there is that. I look exactly like her -- and I'm actually wearing that outfit today because I have a lunch date...

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Richmond, Va.: I can't believe how much I enjoy Modern Family! I'm a pretty smart person but it has been my experience that I need a laugh track . . . however, I laugh out loud at Modern Family at least four or five times per episode. Who do I have to thank for this?

Lisa de Moraes: A guy named Christopher Lloyd and -- I can't believe I'm saying this -- Steven Levitan. Yes, the man who put Pamela Anderson in a book store in a sitcom and expected levity to ensue...Loved the whole football-game watching storyline this week.

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Oprah guest shot: Will Mrs. Palin arrive by herself, or will she have any members of her extended family in tow? Is this a situation where certain topics (i.e., the turncoat Levi Johnston) will be off-limits in the conversation, or will Oprah probe how hurtful it was when he and Bristol split up?

Lisa de Moraes: I would love it if she brought her baby. He's adorable and I'd like to watch Oprah try to be the star with an infant at her side...you know the old saying about never performing with an infant or a little dog. Or did I just dream that?

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Sadness: I have been thinking it all season but after last night episode I will now say it out loud: Project Runway has jumped the shark. A moment of silence for one of the first really good reality shows please.

Lisa de Moraes: You are not alone. The numbers are sliding downward which should not be happening on a competition series at this stage of the game... They really did a number on the show moving it to Los Angeles, etc., didn't they?

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Modern Family: Coal-digger line was pretty funny.

Lisa de Moraes: lol....

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RE: ...the man who put Pamela Anderson in a book store in a sitcom....: I'm so glad you're here to remember these things for us. You're a national treasure.

Lisa de Moraes: Thank you. I'm in episode 18 of the next Ken Burns documentary series on "National Treasures"....

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Ken Burns: I have all five unwatched episodes (or is it six?) of Ken Burns' National Parks documentary clogging up my DVR. Should I just delete them now, or get a couple of bottles of wine and settle in for a very long evening?

Lisa de Moraes: Speaking of Ken Burns! No, do not delete. Yes, watch it all at once and with a couple of bottles of wine. When you're done drinking what's inside, you can throw them at the TV set if you think the series is starting to get too precious....

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Soupy Sales: Who were his other companions? White Fang? Black Tooth? Was there a rabid bunny, or was that on Captain Kangaroo? Getting my '50s icons confused.

Lisa de Moraes: I can't seem to make the links show up properly today so my producer is going to send us the link to everything you need to know about Soupy Sales....

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Fairfax, Va.: Why does CBS not put full episodes of The Big Bang Theory on its Website? It's by the same guy who does Two and a Half Men, which is available on the CBS Web site.

Lisa de Moraes: Well, I was going to say "because 'Big Bang Theory' is owned by Warner Brothers, not by CBS, just like '2.5 Men' is owned by Warner Brothers, but you blew that theory. Unless the '2.5 Men' episodes up on the web site are older ones?

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McLean, Va.: After "Hank" is given the pink slip, what's the next series that will be canned? Ugly Betty?

Lisa de Moraes: If there is any justice, it would be "Heroes" which is such a sad version of its former great self it really should be put out of its misery -- and ours...

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washingtonpost.com: Soupy Sales (Wikipedia)

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New York, N.Y.: Any news on cable picking up Southland? Since it sounds like NBC is waking up to the Gaspin failure why don't they either dump Leno, or switch him to 8 and put the show on USA into the 10 p.m. slot. Like In Plain Sight, Burn Notice and Royal Pains.

Funny column today Lisa.

Lisa de Moraes: Thank you in re funny column. And what NBC should do is put Leno back on at 11:30, move Conan back to 12:30 and concede the experiment did not work. Yes, Conan will kick and scream -- but where is he going to go, after doing the kind of numbers he's doing? And if that would be a breach of his contract and they have to pay Conan gobs of money, I'd say it would be money well spent. NBC has already dismantled its once unchallengeable lead in primetime, the network can't afford to also nuke its late night supremacy....

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Po, OK: So, how did you manage to be the one writer in the redesigned print edition without a picture above her column?

Lisa de Moraes: I'm trying to talk them into using Kay Francis's pix....so far no dice...

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Evergreen, Wash.: What do you think of 'Flash Forward'? Does it have a future past season 1 or 2? When they get to March 2010 (the date of the flash forwards)... where do they go from there?

Lisa de Moraes: I think "FlashForward" stars Joseph Fiennes and that's all I need to know... yet another perfect illustration why I will never ever become a TV critic at The Washington Post. You have just read what would be my entire review of "FlashForward." ...

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Falls Church, Va.: The Kay Francis pic is nice, but the conversion to a line drawing is making all of the Post columnists look bizarre. You'd probably turn out to look something like this.

Lisa de Moraes: ...which is exactly(!) what I look like on days when my editor looks over what I have written for the next day's column and tells me things like "you need to think more like a lawyer." How did you know that? It's like you're psychic. Or, my editor.....

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Falls Church nit picker: I am 29 and married 3.5 years. Is it terrible that I LOL at "Cougar Town" all the time?

Lisa de Moraes: I just knew I was going to dislike this new ABC comedy. I am not a huge Courteney Cox fan and really did not like her previous series "Dirt" -- though it was badly written and terribly cast... And I'm not a huge fan of Bill Lawrence's work -- "Scrubs" -- though he's hilarious in person and seems like a very nice guy. So I too have been surprised at how much I am enjoying this new comedy series. I laugh out loud watching this one, as well as "The Middle" and "Modern Family." Some times when I'm watching ABC's Wednesday comedy lineup, it almost feels like the glory days of NBC's Thursday night ... Except for that whole "Hank" debacle, of course...

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Upper Midwest : Ms. de Moraes,

While revamping NBC...can they FINALLY kill Saturday Night Live while their at it? It hasn't been good for decades (Eddie Murphy, Dana Carvey, ACTUALLY LIVE broadcast days).

Lisa de Moraes: They should keep it on during election years, when it is brilliant. The other years, get it outta there -- I'm with you...

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Studio 60: In today's column you mentioned Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Why do you think that show didn't find an audience? I really liked it except for turning Brad Whitford into a stalker and, of course, the scene where two characters are trapped on the roof of a TELEVISION STUDIO and neither one has cell phone reception!

washingtonpost.com: NBC fills in the margins with notes for a new strategy (Post, Oct. 23)

Lisa de Moraes: I wanted to like that show -- I'm a big Sorkin fan and an even bigger Matthew Perry fan. But when the show became mostly about the love-hate relationship between Christian Comic Chick and Matthew Perry's character (who was really a stand in for Sorkin, and CCC was a stand-in for Kristin Chenoweth who Sorkin "dated") the show lost me. I can't stand even fictitious characters preaching at me.

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"Mentalist": How is the "Mentalist" doing after leaving the coveted post-"NCIS" Tuesday timeslot?

Love the chats

Lisa de Moraes: "Mentalist" doing just great. Last night's repeat managed to attract 11.5 hours, beating baseball -- though that may change when final stats come in. Even so, it will have been very competitive....

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Former TV Ad Sales Guy: Nobody cares who won the week. They care about whether the network selling the time delivered the numbers for which it received the buy. Leno's too packed with product placement and mainstream ads to go away.

Lisa de Moraes: Well said.NBC is making money off Leno and if they're programming to margins it will stick around. Except NBC chairman Jeff Gaspin announced this week, and the CEO of NBC parent General Electric Jeffrey Immelt also announced, NBC wants to be No. 1 in the ratings game again. Yes, it's all about bragging rights which is silly -- except when it's not.

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Arlington, Va.: Lisa, please thank Hank Stuever for his review of White Collar. He got right to the point, putting the Hottitude Alert in the first paragraph. All reviews should be like this.

washingtonpost.com: It's just like taking eye candy from a baby (Post, Oct. 23)

Lisa de Moraes: I'll pass your message along. Hank's fabulous...

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Denver, Colo.: NBC Artist in Residence...

In a recent column, I believe you wrote that you can't be too cynical in this business (in relation to a network airing/not-airing a deceased DJ's reality show).

What really shocked me -- though it shouldn't have -- was the piece on NBC's Artist in Residence program -- specifically that the artist (in this case, Bon Jovi) would be part of a piece on NBC Nightly News. Ouch.

washingtonpost.com: NBC Universal to Lock Up Musicians as 'Artists in Residence' (Post, Oct. 16)

Lisa de Moraes: Yes, Nightly News is now for sale too. Although I was assured his segment on the evening news would be all about his good-deed-doing or something like that.. Which is great, until some recording company decides they want to buy into NBC's Artist in Residence program for Lady Gaga...

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Alexandria, Va.: If we wind up having a Yankees vs. Phillies World Series, what will that do to the ratings on the West Coast and in fly-over country? I would think the West Coast rating would tank, not only from no local interest but from the games' all starting during the rush-hour commute in that time zone.

Lisa de Moraes: Yes, Fox suits were praying for a Yankees/Dodgers match up because then we could all just declare the TV season over and network execs could loosen their ties and put their feet up on their desk and dream about next season. If the Yankees do beat the Angels and become the other half of the World Series competition that would not be the end of the world for Fox because the Yankees have fans around the country in a bigger way than many other teams...

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Funny Soupy Sales story: I was terrified of that pie in the face gag as a child--terrified!

Lisa de Moraes: Really? Were you scared of clowns too? I'm not mocking, I'm seriously asking because WaPo Team TV's Soupy Sales Special Correspondent Emily Yahr says she too used to cry whenever she saw someone getting a pie in the face and she was also afraid of clowns as a child...Me, I was only afraid of mummies and laughed my head off at pies in the face...

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Re: Project Runway: I don't think the producers understood the draw of Nina Garcia and Michael Kors and their critiques. This season has been blah for a couple of reasons, but most importantly because the judging hasn't been nearly as fun or interesting to watch.

Lisa de Moraes: Preaching to the choir -- and apparently to many, many other viewers based on the show's ratings performance this season.

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My Ideal TV Hour: Is Modern Family followed by South Park (DVR baby.) I think I hear Jerry Falwell rising from his grave...

Lisa de Moraes: I'm so glad you brought up "South Park." "South Park" is great this season and yet hardly anyone in the press is paying attention to it.

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Appalachia: When does Diane Sawyer take over the nightly news? Have they announced who will take her place? They had George Snuffleupagus sitting next to her the past few days but he seems to serious for that time slot....In my opinion, he doesn't do "bright-eyed and bushy-tailed" very well.

Lisa de Moraes: Apparently George is on the short list of candidates to replace Princess Di on "Good Morning America."

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Charlottesville, Va.: Poll: I said Oprah would benefit the most because people who don't like Palin will probably not change their opinion of her with this one appearance. She's had enough media exposure by now that if there was a hidden, deep side to her, one would think that traces of it would have shown up by now. I'm pretty confident that she will be just as vapid and self-unaware as she has always been. However, conservatives who dumped Oprah because they didn't like her endorsement of Obama may be willing to forgive and forget if she is sufficiently nice to their icon.

Also, if Oprah gives her either the physical or verbal slapdown that she so richly deserves, that could help her, too! So for Oprah: Win-Win!

Lisa de Moraes: Frankly I don't think the encounter will change anyone's mind about either of them. But won't it be great television?

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Washington, D.C.: Given Palin's history of lashing out every time she gets a tough question and her whole political strategy of bashing the "liberal media", is it unreasonable to expect some fireworks on Oprah? Do you think they are really going to play nice for an hour?

Lisa de Moraes: Golly, I hope not, in re the last question and golly I hope so in re fireworks...But Oprah is too controlled for that, so I'm not counting on it...

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Richmond: Sara Palin needs Oprah WAAAAY more than Oprah needs Sara Palin. The whole ONE NAME thing sorta trumps everything else.

Lisa de Moraes: Excellent point. Only one of them has achieved One Name Status....

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Baltimore, Md.: Leno is Henny Youngman without the charm: Every pre-dawn, as I drive to the train station, the local NBC radio affiliate plays bits from Leno's monolog. The jokes are of this precise caliber:

"Did you see about the woman whose husband had been dead in their house for a week before she noticed? It happened after she said, 'So that was my day. How was yours?'"

Boy! Women talk a lot! A kneeslapper that.

Lisa de Moraes: Jay Leno suffers these days suffers from being seen when his viewers are actually awake.

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Upper: George Snuffleupagus

Lisa de Moraes: I know... horrible...and yet, I confess, I chuckled slightly when I read it, which is very, very bad. But I think people who go through life being called 'Lisa deMoralize' should get a free pass to chuckle at the butchering of other people's names.

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Runway: When Weinstein sold it to the highest bidder, they made their bed. New network, new producers, new staff.

Lisa de Moraes: Oh yes, he's laughing all the way to the bank. It's the show itself, and Lifetime with its expectations of goosing its schedule on the back of the show, that are crying... I've run really late today and have to get to work explaining to The WaPo Decency Police why I chuckled at "Snuffleupagus." We'll keep the poll up for a while. So far Sarah Palin is the runaway winner with nearly 70 percent of respondents saying she stands to gain the most by the Oprah-Palin sitdown.. Bye...

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