Globe and Mail television critic Andrew Ryan has landed for the annual Television Critics Tour, which is put on each summer by U.S. broadcasters and cable channels to promote the upcoming fall season. The TV Critics Tour is always eventful, and you can visit this page for regular dispatches on the events as they happen. You can also follow his Twitter feed by clicking on the + button below.
SUNNY DAZE Day 7, 2:25 p.m. PT: A bundle of joy will not necessarily lighten up It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
The dark sitcom, which airs on the U.S. cable channel FX and in Canada on Showcase, begins its sixth season next month with the pregnancy of central character Sweet Dee, played by Kaitlin Olson, who is due later this month. The first episode title: Who Got Dee Pregnant?
"We didn't have much choice except to write it into the show," Olson said at the TV Critics Tour. "The subject is treated with our usual degree of class."
One of FX's highest-rated series, Philadelphia was created and developed by Rob McElhenney, Glenn Howerton and Charlie Day, who play the central group of friends running the seedy Paddy's Pub in Philly. The show also stars comedy veteran Danny DeVito as one of the characters' father.
"It's still the kind of comedy that we'd watch ourselves as viewers," said Howerton. "And every year our audience keeps getting bigger. I can't even sit in an airport anymore."
The twentysomething central cast of Sunny have become slightly more mature over the past six seasons. DeVito's character of Frank, meanwhile, is moving in the opposite direction. "Frank's devolving," said DeVito. "He's trying to rediscover his lost adolescence, and is in a rush to get there."
SOPHOMORE SEASON Day 7, 7:57 p.m. ET: How will the red-hot musical comedy Glee follow last year's breakout of the show this season? Less is more, believes co-creator and executive producer Ryan Murphy.
"We had such a whirlwind of a year," said Murphy at the TV Critics Tour. "For the sophomore season, we're going to focus more on some of the underdeveloped characters, like Santana. We're scaling it back a bit and concentrating on the stories. Instead of nine musical numbers each show, we may do five or six."
This season will also include Glee tribute episodes showcasing the songs of Britney Spears and "an artist we're still negotiating with," said Murphy.
And don't be surprised to see a Paul McCartney episode this season. Murphy recently received a package with a CD and a note from the ex-Beatle. "I was gobsmacked," said Murphy. "He's a fan of the show and admires the show. Of course we're going to do something with his music."
GRUMPY OLD WOMAN Day 7, 7:36 p.m. ET: It's probably not a good idea to invite Betty White and Cloris Leachman to the same tea party. Although the two women worked together on The Mary Tyler Moore Show back in the seventies, Leachman says they were never friends, then or now.
"I'm so sick of Betty White," said Leachman while promoting the new Fox comedy Raising Hope on the press tour. "I never liked her."
While critics warmed to the idea of a catfight between two octogenarians (White is 84, Leachman is 84), the premise of Raising Hope seemed strange for a comedy. The series stars unknown Lucas Neff as Jimmy, who becomes an instant father when a baby's mother is executed in prison. "That's sort of dark, isn't it?" said Leachman, to the chagrin of series creator Greg Garcia and the rest of the cast. Leachman also changed seats on the podium and demanded reporters stand while asking questions. "Just take a break and relax," she ordered one scribe.
Leachman plays Neff's dotty grandmother on the series, with film star Martha Plimpton as the unwitting father's mother. "She's not bitchy and mean," said Plimpton. "She has a heart and she loves her son…She's not crazy about being a grandmother herself, but she grows into it."
FAMILY PLAN Day 6, 6:09 p.m. ET: ABC is taking one more shot at the fantasy-drama genre with No Ordinary Family.
The new fall series follows a typical American family clan, headed by Michael Chiklis and Julie Benz, who fall into a river and surface with super-powers. "We wanted to make something the whole family could watch together," said creator/producer Greg Berlanti. "Those types of shows are becoming fewer and fewer on television."
Most of the focus in the first few shows falls on Chiklis as the family patriarch who struggles with his newfound super-strength.
"He's an everyman kind of guy, unsure of what's expected of him from the world and his own family," said Chiklis, best known for his role of cop Vic Mackay on The Shield. "It's an intimate family show, but the superhero genre wrapped around it makes it rather large. It opens up a lot of worlds we can enter."
ABC is rolling the dice with the big-budget Family, following the short-lived fantasy shows FastForward and Pushing Daisies. Chiklis claims there's no parallels with this series. "Those were good shows, but they explored completely different worlds," he said. "And nobody had super-powers."
ABC'S FUTURE LIES WITH COMEDY Day 6, 12:13 p.m. PT: Incoming ABC entertainment president Paul Lee sees nothing but blue skies ahead for the network's prime-time lineup - but he will not discuss his predecessor's abrupt departure.
Late last week, former ABC entertainment president Stephen McPherson resigned the top post at the Disney-owned broadcaster. The resignation came amid reports that McPherson was embroiled in a sexual-harassment investigation at the network.
Over the weekend, ABC handed the job to the London-born Lee, a former BBC executive credited with revitalizing the ABC Family Channel in recent years. ABC addressed the elephant in the room right away - with a large pink stuffed elephant on the podium. "I realize you all may have questions …" deadpanned the ABC publicity manager.
Reporters were immediately on Lee. "I can't really answer that," he responded to a query on McPherson's departure. Moments later, he closed off the topic definitively by stating, "I don't want to talk about Steve."
On four occasions, he referenced the fact he had been in the job for 36 hours. "I am super unprepared," he said cheerily. "I'm looking forward to rolling my sleeves up."
The 50-year-old Lee will oversee creative and business operations for the broadcast network as well as ABC Studios, the company's in-house TV production unit. Accentuating the positive, Lee said he believed he was taking over a healthy network.
"ABC has formed some very strong brands over the years, and we have some strong shows coming," he said. "Our job is to find new brand-defining hits. Every network needs to be replenished, to stay fresh."
Part of that branding process, said Lee, means taking the occasional risk, as he did during his time spent as a producer and showrunner at the BBC. "When we first tested the British version of The Office, it was the worst-tested show in our history. That's because it broke the rules."
To that end, Lee spoke glowingly, and more than once, of ABC's sophomore comedy hit Modern Family. "I believe it is one of the funniest shows on television, and should win the Emmy," said Lee. "Comedy will continue to be fertile ground for us."
POSITIVE VIBE Day 6, 12:09 p.m. PT: Matthew Perry is still looking for life after Friends.
The wry comic actor created, executive produces and stars in the comedy series Mr. Sunshine, which is booked to join ABC's schedule midseason. "Instead of waiting around for someone to create a TV job for me, I made my own," said Perry while promoting the show at the TV Critics Tour.
The concept of Mr. Sunshine casts Perry as Ben Donovan, the self-absorbed manager of a foundering sports arena, with Alison Janney ( The West Wing) playing the erratic owner.
"We were just trying to think of a place where the most insane things can come in each week," said Perry. "The title is slightly ironic. While Ben is fun to be around, he's just learning how not to be a selfish jerk."
Perry admitted that the character was based in part on his own transformation from Porsche-crashing bad boy - and drug-rehab habitue - back in the nineties to his more composed current state.
"Just pick up any newspaper from 1996," he said. "They say write what you know, so the idea of a guy changing terrible behaviour to become a better person felt right."
Perry has filmed the first three episodes of the series, and viewers should not expect any guest turns from any of the other Friends, at least in the early stages.
"Maybe in the third season," said Perry, "but in the beginning we want to convey this is something new. I don't want to use them as a launching pad."
Since Friends signed off in 2004, Perry has had some middling success in features, including the cable movie The Ron Clark Story and the feature 17 Again. "You can tell how successful the movies were by the fact I'm here," he said.
CRIME STORY Day 6, 9:51 a.m. PT: ABC led off their day on the TV Critics Tour with Detroit 1-8-7, a new crime drama starring Michael Imperioli as an intense homicide cop. The gritty mockumentary-style series co-stars James McDaniel and Canadian Shaun Majumder as plainclothes cops.
The pilot has already garnered attention for its graphic violence, obtuse title (1-8-7 is Detroit police-radio call jargon) and black humour; in the pilot, detectives on a murder scene search the gutter for one bullet casing, and find several from different shootings.
"The city of Detroit is a character in this show," said creator/executive producer Jason Richman. "Cop shows have been set in a lot of U.S. cities, but not Detroit. It's a tough city."
Playing a cop is a quantum shift for Imperioli, best known to TV viewers for his portrayal of wiseguy Christopher Moltisante on The Sopranos. "There's very different motivation that makes one person a cop and the other a criminal," said Imperioli. "A lot of guys could go either way."
It seems unlikely, however, Imperioli will duplicate his Sopranos practice of writing episodes for the show he's starring in. Working on a network series is work. " The Sopranos had the luxury of taking 18 days to shoot an episode, and there was always a year or a year and half between seasons. Not much time for writing on a weekly series," he said.
MR. NICE GUY Day 4, 6:35 p.m. PT: Don't expect Jimmy Fallon to get controversial while hosting next month's Primetime Emmy Awards. The famously genial ex-SNLer plans to take the same inoffensive tack he uses on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.
"I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable," said Fallon at today's TV Critics Tour. "The Emmys have such a huge audience and it's not about me, it's about celebrating television. I want to make people laugh."
Fallon told critics he feels more at ease hosting Late Night these days, or at least it's become easier than the first show in which his guest was Robert De Niro. "He does not like to talk," said Fallon, shuddering at the memory. "It was a lot of head-bobbing and one-word answers. I had the worst case of flop sweat."
In the short but lively press session, Fallon paid homage to his Late Night predecessor Conan O'Brien. "If it weren't for Conan I wouldn't have this job. He rocked the show for 16 years," said Fallon.
And should O'Brien wins in the category for Best Talk Show host for his six-month stint hosting The Tonight Show? "If he wins, it should be pretty interesting to see what he has to say."
TOLL-FREE TV Day 4, 2:58 p.m. PT: Culture clashes merge with office politics in the new NBC comedy Outsourced.
Adapted from the feature film of the same name, the series is set in a call center in Mumbai, India, where an American novelty company has recently outsourced its ordering department. Ben Rappaport plays the lone American sent to manage the call center, with assistance from sitcom veteran Diedrich Bader (T he Drew Carey Show).
"This is not your typical workplace sitcom," said executive producer Ken Kwapis, formerly a showrunner of NBC's remake of The Office. "On most workplace comedies, the characters don't like the jobs they're in. In India, the call center jobs are highly regarded, and the people take great pride in ther work, so the tone is upbeat."
Rappaport and Bader stand out in the Outsourced cast. The roles of the call-center staffers are played by several Indian actors, including Anisha Magarajan, Sacha Dawan and Canadian-born Rizwan Manji. Also in the cast is actor Parvesh Cheena - born and raised in Elm Grove, Illinois - who has appreciation for the show's subtle message.
"It's about two cultures trying to find common ground," said Cheena, who has guest-starred on the series Sons of Tucson and Criminal Minds. "The Indians don't understand the American culture, and the Americans don't understand the American culture."
For the record, none of the Indian cast members have ever worked in a call center, or even talked to one. "I called Apple once, and got someone in Ireland," said Cheena.
YOU GO, GIRL Day 4, 1:20 p.m. PT: Female viewing demographic, meet the new Ally McBeal.
The new USA Network series Facing Kate stars actress Sarah Shahi in the title role of a hotshot lawyer who changes lanes to become a professional mediator, brokering disputes between divorcing couples and Fortune 500 companies.
"She's completely fed up with the red tape and bureaucracy of the court system, so she decides to cut right to the chase," said Shahi, a former cast regular on the cable drama The L Word. "The world of being a mediator is a much better fit for her personality."
Like Ms. McBeal, Shahi's character is constantly beset by a raft of personal woes. To wit: her lawyer father just died; her stepmother (Virginia Wiliams) is a shrew; and her husband (Michael Trucco) is a litigator in the DA's office. Oh, and she's a single mother.
"Kate clearly has a lot going on, but she's a pretty fearless character," said Shahi. "She likes to strip everything down to its simplest elements, which is also what makes her a good mediator."
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT Day 4, 12:29 p.m. PT: Primetime's most enduring crime-drama is making the move to the West Coast, but Law & Order: Los Angeles will remain faithful to the original flavour of the series, according to L&O franchise founder Dick Wolf.
"The ching-chings are going to be there, the title bars are going to be there," Wolf promised TV critics this morning. "This is going to be the next generation in the franchise..but it will be very L.A."
The new show's opening theme song? "Musically we're up in the air on that," said Wolf. "This is all a work in progress."
Law & Order: Los Angeles in effect replaces the original Law & Order, which folded shop last spring after 20 seasons on NBC. The new series stars Skeet Ulrich as the lead detective and Alfred Molina as an L.A. county prosecutor.
Breaking slightly from the L&O formula, the spinoff series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Criminal Intent have veered occasionally into the personal lives of the cops and prosecutors. The L.A. edition will be more like the first series, promised Wolf.
"Story is paramount in all crime procedurals," said Wolf. "We're going to deal primarily with the crime and the prosecution. We don't have a lot of time to get into a lot of the personal stories. If you watch regularly, you'll get to know these characters anyway."
FUNNY BUSINESS Day 4, 12:03 p.m. PT: Comedy is key to the NBC comeback plan.
Currently mired in fourth place, the network that once brought viewers Seinfeld, Friends and Frasier saw some comedy resurgence last season with the well-received rookies Community and Parks & Recreation. This fall wil bring the new workplace sitcom Outsourced.
"We really want to broaden our comedy lineup," said NBC entertainment president Angela Bromstad. "It's part of our network legacy."
Part of that legacy involves keeping NBC's already successful comedies - Parks & Recreation, 30 Rock and The Office - running for as long as possible. Bromstad confirmed that The Office will stay in business despite the departure of star Steve Carell at the close of next season. "I couldn't go home and face my 14-year-old son if The Office wasn't around," she said.
THE SPYING GAME Day 4, 10:37 a.m. PT: No new fall show has the anticipation factor of NBC's Undercovers.
Equal parts action and romantic comedy, the series about an international spy couple has already generated serious industry heat, mostly due to the involvement of TV iconoclast J.J. Abrams ( Alias, Lost, Fringe), who co-created the series and directed the pilot.
There's also the fact that Undercovers is the only new fall series with two African-Americans - Boris Kodjoe and Gugu Mbatha-Raw - in the lead roles.
"We didn't go out of our way to hire two black actors for the leads," insisted executive producer Josh Reims, who co-wrote the script with Abrams. "We don't think we're revolutionizing TV, but we realize it's a big deal. We wish it wasn't a big deal."
The big-budget Undercovers casts Kodjoe and Mbatha-Raw as a bored couple retired from the spying game, but pulled out of retirement by the CIA to chase down a globetrotting fugitive. TV veteran Gerald McRaney plays their CIA handler, Mr. Shaw.
So far, most of the shooting for Undercovers has taken place in Spain, England and other European locales. "For any actor, this series is an absolute dream. We get paid to go to these exotic locations and kick butt," said Kodjoe, who hails from Vienna, Austria.
But this is still work, of course. "It's not always easy," added Kodjoe. "Yesterday we were shooting in a strip club, but I had to speak three languages."
EVENT PLANNING Day 4, 10:15 a.m. PT: NBC's first big event on the TV Critics Tour was, um, The Event.
The peacock network chose to open its designated day on the Tour with a press session for its new conspiracy-theory drama. The premise involves a young man, played by Jason Ritter, trying to find his missing fiancée and instead stumbling upon a group of mysterious detainees and the biggest cover-up in U.S. history. The show earned rave reviews when screened at last week's Comic Con in San Diego.
The premise co-stars Laura Innes ( ER) and Blair Underwood in the role of the U.S. president. "He's very savvy politically, but new in office," said Underwood. "Through no fault of his own, this conspiracy could ruin his presidency almost before it begins."
Also in the cast is veteran character player Zeljko Ivanek as the CIA director who may or may not be responsible for the conspiracy.
"He's got the entire country to protect, which sometimes people use as an excuse for extreme action," said Ivanek, an Emmy-winner for the cable drama Damages. "Fear is a great motivator and we're unsure of who are the good guys and the bad guys. Audience loyalties will shift along the way."
STOP THE PRESSES Day 4, 9:15 a.m. PT: News of Ellen Degeneres' departure from American Idol has taken over the TV Critics Tour, however briefly.
The comedian and daytime talk host announced last night she was leaving the top-rated talent contest after serving one year as judge. Last May, Simon Cowell left the show after nine seasons to start a new talent show for Fox.
The news naturally has press members on the TV Critics Tour all abuzz. Everyone showed up for this morning's poolside buffet breakfast to push the new series Covert Affairs (which films in Toronto and oddly doesn't air in Canada). Talent for the series were available, including Piper Perabo and Christopher Gorham, but most of the critics were huddled elsewhere, scarfing down waffles and jabbering about American Idol.
Speculation is, of course, rampant on who will take Ellen's place. Or Simon's place, for that matter. The shortlist, according to those in the know: Jennifer Lopez, Sean Combs (or P. Diddy), and, among the real longshots, Meatloaf. A local L.A. TV station morning show signed on this morning with the "scoop" that Justin Timberlake would get the gig.
Fox is expected to name the new Idol judge, or judges, when the network shows up Monday on the TV Critics Tour.
GIRL POWER Day 3, 4:53 p.m. PT: On most American network series, a positive female role model is usually a cop, lawyer or a doctor. On The CW, a positive female role model is a professional assassin in a bikini and spike heels. With a gun.
The biggest buzz show on The CW's fall season, Nikita stars actress Maggie Q. as a hit-woman who turns rogue against the nefarious government agency that trained her. On The CW, that's girl power.
"We had been trying to develop a female empowerment action-adventure show for a couple of seasons," said CW entertainment president Dawn Ostroff at the TV Critics Tour. "It felt more realistic than a lot of the scripts that we had read."
Nikita is the second TV take on the French film La Femme Nikita (the first version starred Peta Wilson and was filmed in Toronto). Ms. Q earned her action stripes in the films Mission: Impossible 3 and Live Free and Die Hard. She's also a seasoned martial artist.
"I knocked a guy out while shooting the pilot," said the slight actress. "He forgot to duck, you know?"
SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT Day 3, 4:05 p.m. PT: Give Dawn Ostroff her due. The lady running The CW is currently the longest-sitting broadcast entertainment president in U.S. network television, which she took as a point of pride in her opening address to reporters at the summer TV Critics Tour. Ostroff has run The CW since it signed on in 2006, and before that she ran the low profile UPN.
"I've been in this job, between UPN and The CW, for nine years now," said Ostroff proudly. "This is my ninth press tour."
Ostroff made the point in response to a query about outgoing ABC entertainment boss Stephen McPherson, who abruptly announced his resignation on Tuesday, possibly in the wake of allegations of sexual harassment. "For us it's just not that unusual," said Ostroff of McPherson's departure. "I wish Steve all the best."
In her opening address, Ostroff heralded her network's pioneering use of Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms to promote its schedule.
The CW will debut two new dramas this fall: Hellcats, which will follow America's Next Top Model on Wednesdays, and Nikita - the second TV remake of the French action film - which will air Thursday nights after the semi-hit Vampire Diaries. Any similarities between Hellcats and the Fox hit Glee are a complete coincidence, she said.
"We really were all surprised that we liked Hellcats as much as we did," Ostroff told critics. "People like watching the dancing and the cheering."
HOW YOU DOIN'? Day 3, 12:16 p.m. PT: Former Friends star Matt Leblanc will mount a TV comeback on the new series Episodes.
The new Showtime comedy casts Leblanc as himself and follows him attempting to star in the American television remake of a hit British series. "There are some similarities," said Leblanc about playing himself, "but for the most part it's a ficticious character."
Regardless, Episodes derives mileage out of Leblanc's Friends stature; the show's clip reel featured more than a few people hitting the actor with Joey Tribiani's 'How you doin'?' catchphrase.
"I got a couple on the way in here today," admitted Leblanc at the TV Critics Tour. "I don't really take it as a negative thing. If people really believe me as that character, in my opinion I've done my job. I take it as a compliment."
Filmed in L.A. and London, Episodes is lensed in the manner of HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm and other current single-camera cable comedies. And, unlike Friends, no studio audience. "When you say the punchline and there's no crowd laughing it's a little unnerving," said Leblanc.
STILL DREAMING DEXTER Day 3, 11:25 a.m. PT: Can this really be the fifth season for Dexter? The bleak drama starring Michael C. Hall as a Miami forensics expert who leads a double life as a serial killer ranks among Showtime's highest-rated series in the U.S.
"We're like one big family now," said Hall, appearing with the show's ensemble cast at the TV Critics Tour. "The show has a become a meditation on reality and our shadow side."
The upcoming season will bring in Peter Weller as a former cop who becomes a Dexter nemesis. Also appearing will be Jonny Lee Miller and Julia Stiles.
The fifth season will also bring more screen time for actor James Remar as Harry, Dexter's long deceased cop-stepfather who appears in flashback sequences to counsel his homicidal son.
"The relationship with Harry becomes more dynamic this season," said Hall. "They're not quite adversial, but they trade arguments. It's a complex relationship that keeps evolving."
GOING DARK Day 3, 9:48 a.m. PT: Why so serious, Showtime? The CBS-owned cable channel already airs the dark series Dexter, Nurse Jackie and Californication. Next up for the U.S. cable channel: The Big C, a character study starring Laura Linney as Cathy, a suburban housewife and mother who receives a stage-four melanoma diagnosis and decides to thereafter experience life to its fullest.
"She has a huge growth spurt throughout this whole experience," said Linney at the TV Critics Tour. "Faced with death, she's suddenly never more alive."
The Big C co-stars Oscar nominee Gabourey Sidibe ( Precious) as a student who runs afoul of Linney's character. Also in the cast is character actor Oliver Platt in the role of Linney's supportive, if immature, husband, Paul.
"They have a very modern relationship," said Platt, who also starred on the Showtime series Huff. "His emotional maturity might not be on the top line of his resume, but he grows up fast."
STILL BOLDLY GOING Day 2, 4:27 p.m. PT: Whether it's fiber cereal, websites or a new TV show, Canada's William Shatner still knows how to sell the goods. The former Star Trek captain and commercial pitchman was in fine fettle while promoting the new CBS comedy $#*! My Dad Says, based on the popular Twitter site and book by Justin Halpern.
"This show is a viral show," said an enthused Shatner, 79. "It is an electronic miracle. It stems from the culture of now. It is in front of the curve. ... It's staggering."
The format of the new comedy, which comes to television from the producers of Will & Grace, casts Shatner in the role of the crusty patriarch espousing unique wisdoms to his son. The irony of starring in a show adapted from a global Internet phenomenon is not lost on him.
"I started in live television," said Shatner. "I was there when the cameras were the size of a table and had fans and tubes in them."
And does the onetime Captain Kirk approve of CBS changing the title for public consumption. "Why are we pussyfooting around?" he thundered. "I think we should say shit."
LEGAL BRIEFS Day 2, 2:35 p.m. PT: How much does art imitate life on the new legal drama The Defenders? The series stars former sitcom fixture Jim Belushi as a hard-living Las Vegas criminal lawyer. To prepare for the role, Belushi claims to have put in research time with several slick Vegas solicitors. "These guys are the real deal. They know the city and how to work the system. And they can hold their liquor, these guys," said Belushi at the TV Critics Tour.
Belushi's legal partner on the series is played by former child star Jerry O'Connell, who said viewers shouldn't confuse Belushi with the genial family man he played for eight seasons on the ABC comedy According to Jim.
"He's a chilling dude, man," said O'Connell. "When you're doing a scene with him and those cold Albanian eyes are staring at you... It's pretty chilling on set."
GOOD ONE Day 2, 12 p.m. PT: Line of the day honours to Sharon Osbourne, wife of addled rocker Ozzy Osbourne, who was here to promote her role on CBS's new daytime talk show, which she co-hosts with Julie Chen, Leah Remini, Sara Gilbert and Holly Robinson Peete. When the women were asked if their husbands might appear on the program, Ozzy's better half quipped, "He doesn't even know I'm doing this show."
TECH HITCH Day 2, 11:40 a.m. PT: Funny how the smallest thing can mess up grand plans. While CBS was putting on a dog-and-pony show for the opening morning of the TV Critics Tour, most of the 200 or so reporters in attendance were frustrated because the host hotel's Wi-Fi system went down. You could hear the sputtering and muttering from the group assembled in the ballroom, trying over and over to relaunch their laptops in order to file stories. "This was never a problem when we used fax machines," groused one veteran scribe.
PARTING SHOTS Day 2, July 28, 11:30 a.m. PT: The least surprising news to surface so far at the TV Critics Tour: Last night's resignation by ABC head of programing Stephen McPherson. Lasting six years in the post, McPherson oversaw the primetime lineup on the Disney-owned network.
His CBS counterpart, entertainment president Nina Tassler, expressed mock envy at the news: "Damn it, he got out of press tour."
Regarding the news McPherson plans to go into the spirits business, Ms. Tassler said she expects to receive a free case of chardonnay.
Another CBS executive, who chose to remain unnamed, was more direct regarding McPherson's departure. "This is the man responsible for the show Caveman [a 2007 sitcom starring the Neanderthal characters from a TV commercial]" said the source. "It was only a matter of time."
Day 1, July 27: And so the annual Television Critics Tour began -- not with a bang or a whimper, but with one long walkabout around Hollywood backlots and soundstages. I knew I should have brought comfortable shoes.
Set visits have become a tradition on the annual TV Tour, which unofficially launched Tuesday. The two-week tour has been around 30-odd years and the general concept involves TV critics from U.S. and Canadian newspapers and websites mingling with talent and creators of shows from the upcoming fall season.
The Tour officially starts today with presentations from CBS, but since most of the TV scribes from the U.S. and Canada were already in town, why not show them the magic behind the curtain by taking them on a tour of a current network series? Like most TV shows, it's an idea that always sounds better on paper.
In this case, a few dozen TV scribes were treated to an entire afternoon touring the set of the NBC drama Parenthood. In years past, we've done the same routine on Grey's Anatomy, Heroes, Arrested Development and dozens of other shows.
This outing began a shuttle-bus ride on L.A. freeways to Universal Studios, the sprawling collection of soundstages in Universal City that plays home to shows like Desperate Housewives and earlier this year was the location for the short-lived Conan O'Brien edition of The Tonight Show.
Once landed, and cleared through various security perimeters, we marched on. And on. We saw bedrooms that looked like real bedrooms. Living rooms that looked just like real living rooms. Someone on the show apparently owns a shoe factory, so we were shown a shoe factory.
The network pressed the show's set decorators and art directors into service as tour guides and to give interviews to reporters; not many took them up on the offer. Most of us had seen bedrooms and living rooms before.
But the earnestness of it all was almost touching. The extended walking tour was capped by a group interview with the entire Parenthood cast, which includes Craig T. Nelson, Bonnie Bedelia and Peter Krause, who used to star on the much better HBO drama Six Feet Under. Work is work in TV these days.
Since Parenthood is about parenting, a handful of kid-actors showed up and fidgeted during the brief presser. The usual questions were asked, the standard answers given. On the way out, everyone received a Parenthood nylon lunch bag, with cookies, root beer and candy inside.
And once wrapped, the critics were supposed to travel by tram to the debut of the new King Kong ride, which is part of the Universal Studio Tour. About half went; the rest went back to the hotel, to rest up for the start of the real TV Tour.