Viewing Single Post From: 5.12 Sympathy for the Devil

Viewing Single Post From: 5.12 Sympathy for the Devil
oncetherewasaway	Sep 20 2008, 11:55 AM
McEditor Posts: 1,625 Group: .Grey Girls. Member #23 Joined: October 25, 2006	DATES TO REMEMBER & OTHER STUFF ABC Boss Not Spooked by Grey's Anatomy "Ghost" Story - Jan 16, 2009 The final day of the Television Critics Association winter press tour kicked off with ABC Entertainment president Stephen McPherson tackling such tough subjects as the ever-changing broadcast business model, the fate of the three-camera comedy, and ... whether he 'ships Izzie-Dead Denny. "Listen, the viewers will be the judge; that's the good and the bad of this business," McPherson said when asked for his take on the controversial Grey's Anatomy storyline. "I think that when you get to the end of the season, you'll see everything that [Grey's creator Shonda Rhimes] had in mind. It might not be your cup of tea, but I think you will be surprised at how insightful and actually smart the storyline is in terms of the dynamics that it's creating for the characters who are involved, and where we end up with those characters at the end." Since the season premiere, Katherine Heigl's Izzie has seen, talked to and yes, had hot, loud and sweaty sex with her deceased fiancé (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). Though McPherson reiterated that Denny is not appearing as a ghost to Izzie, he refused to comment any further on the ultimate direction of the storyline. "When you're talking about long-term serialized dramas, there's going to be some stuff that people don't respond to," he acknowledged. "You put it out there and see what works and doesn't work." McPherson hailed Rhimes as "one of the most — if not the most — talented woman writer out there right now. She's responded to the criticism incredibly well." What is McPherson's suggestion to those who don't think the spooky story has a ghost of a chance of wrapping up well? "Watch the show.” http://www.tvguide.com/News/McPherson-Izzie-Denny-1001750.aspx?rss=breakingnews&partnerid=imdb&profileid=01 Dispatch from press tour: ABC president talks 'Grey's ghost, unhappy actors, canceled shows and more -Friday January 16, 2009 ABC president Steve McPherson's executive session on the press tour's last day was lively enough, with talk about the ghost sex storyline on "Grey's Anatomy," the cancellation of shows like "Pushing Daisies" and more, that it would have been worth covering anyway. But the scrum with reporters after the press conference was remarkably contentious once reporters started asking about unrest on the set of "Grey's." Here are a few excerpts from the scrum: Why are so many "Grey's Anatomy" actors jumping ship? Which actors have jumped ship? Melissa George. Melissa George was a guest for one episode. So many guests are just leaving. And she was more than one episode. I'm not going to answer the question. It's an absurd question. The only person who has left the show was Isaiah Washington. Brooke Smith. (At this point, McPherson's eyes narrow as he turns his head and exhales in disgust.) Melissa had contracted for 8 and wasn't on all of them. She didn't contract for that many episodes That's what she says. We all know what everybody says when they leave the show. They want to say what's best for them. It was more than one. I think it was three episodes. She was talked about in one, and she was in two others. (IMDB says she was in five, and I can think of at least four off the top of my head.) Brooke Smith was in the opening credits at the start of the season. Was that, did you just not like the character or the story? Yeah, the character was not working for us, and the dynamic with the relationship was not working for us. We feel Sara is such a dynamic character, and an amazing actress and we just weren't seeing the excitement out of that relationship. There was some mention that we were upset by the lesbian nature, but she is going to be in a dedicated lesbian relationship on the show. So, again, that was an actress who was trying to talk about something in the manner that would serve her in the manner. There's been a lot of talk about T.R. Knight being unhappy and wanting to leave the show. I'm not going to comment on behind the scenes stuff. Stuff gets said that spreads, stuff that's wrong. Do you expect him to be with the show next season? Yes. Do you expect "Grey's" to be back next season? That's the last question. (He starts walking away, shaking his head.) It's the number three show on television. Things were tamer in the session, where the topics covered included: • On the "Izzie has sex with a ghost" story from "Grey's": "It's not a ghost, which you'll learn. When you get to the end of the season, you'll see what everything she had in mind. It might not be your cup of tea, but you'll be surprised at how insightful and actually smart the story line is." • On the failure of shows like "Pushing Daisies" and "Dirty Sexy Money" that ABC didn't bring back immediately after the writers strike last season: "We could have probably gotten maybe 2 or 3 episodes of the Wednesday night shows on the air in the spring. What we were worried about then was, we were looking at the SAG strike, and that it could start in the summer and completely disintegrate the fall. So we made the gamble, hindsight is 20/20, clearly people did not come back to them the way we had hoped. I don't know that we had a better option. I just wish the strike hadn't happened at all." (McPherson later said that he would love to find a way to air the remaining episodes of those shows and "Eli Stone," but that a number of financial and rights issues had to be resolved first, even just to put them all up on ABC.com.) • On the ratings for "Scrubs" so far and whether he might want to keep the show going after Zach Braff leaves at the end of this season, McPherson said he was mostly pleased with the ratings but is waiting for more data. And while he and "Scrubs" creator Bill Lawrence continue to talk about another year for the show, "It would be hard to do it without Zach." • On whether this is at last, at long last, the final season for "According to Jim": "Don't you think we should leave that open? 'Jim' has been an amazing asset for us... I think this is probably the final run, but you never say never." McPherson on Brooke Smith's firing - January 16, 2009 TCA – Things get testy post-panel as critics press ABC's entertainment president Steve McPherson about actress Brooke Smith’s firing from “Grey’s Anatomy.” Asked if he’s concerned about actors departing “Grey’s” in general and McPherson says it’s “an absurd question," and he spars with a critic about how many episodes departing actress Melissa George had appeared in this season. When pressed about Smith’s firing, McPherson says, “the character was not working for us and the relationship was not working for us,” and he says Smith’s post-firing take on the situation “was just an actress [talking] in a manner that was useful to her.” McPherson defends the “Grey’s” storyline where Katherine Heigl’s character has a romance with the ghost of her departed lover. “It’s not a ghost, as you will learn,” he says. “When you get to the end of season and see everything she had in mind ... I really like the story line when we heard the show season laid out.” McPherson also emphasizes that the creative quality of “Private Practice” is improving. “This season ‘Practice' really found the show,” he says. “We got back to the Addison we knew." http://spoilertv-greysanatomy.blogspot.com/2009/01/mcpherson-on-brooke-smiths-firing.html Breaking: ABC prez tackles 'Grey's Anatomy' ghost sex - Jan 16, 2009 This just in from press tour: ABC entertainment president Steve McPherson is speaking out about Grey's Anatomy's controversial ghost story involving Izzie and Denny. "[Denny] is not a ghost, which you will learn," he says. "I actually think when you get to the end of the season and you see everything she had in mind, it might not be your cup of tea, but I think you'll be surprised at how insightful and smart that storyline itself is in terms of the dynamics it's creating for the characters involved and where we end up with those characters at the end… The viewers will be the judge. That's the good and the bad about this business. I think shows ebb and flow. And when you talk about long-term serialized dramas, you're going to have some stuff that people don't respond to." Other highlights from the Alphabet's exec session: • On whether he'll air the remaining episodes of Pushing Daisies, Eli Stone and Dirty Sexy Money: "We'd like to air the end of those shows," said McPherson. "I wish we had been [able to give] the producers series-ending notice so they could really have a finale. But because of the way the timing worked out, we weren't able to. I really love those shows. They delivered what they promised. For us, it was a frustration that we couldn't find a larger audience – or that Nielsen couldn't find a larger audience. " (Odd response considering producers of all three shows did have time to craft series-ending episodes. This demands a post-panel follow-up.) • On getting Marc Cherry to reconsider ending Desperate Housewives after just seven seasons: "I think he finally realized that I would lock him up and not let him do that." • McPherson is satisfied with the creative direction of Private Practice, and has high hopes for the show's upcoming crossover arc with Grey's. http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2009/01/breaking-abc-pr.html --------------------------- --------------------------- Edited by oncetherewasaway, Jan 17 2009, 09:00 AM.


5.12 Sympathy for the Devil · Episodic Chat