Cable at TCA: Kelsey Grammer Shows the Press Who's Boss, BBC America Throws an Epic Party, Too Many Networks Skip the Tour and More - Ed Martin

Kelsey Grammer needs a lesson in manners That was the buzz yesterday at the Summer 2012 Television Critics Association Tour During an otherwise very effective press conference for his Starz series quotBossquot which is noticeably improved in its upcoming second season thanks to the addition of Jonathan Groff and Sanaa Lathan to its cast Grammer received a call from his wife on his cell phonequotI have to answer this for one secondquot he told the critics Then over the course of almost two minutes he proceeded to chat with his wife It sounded something like this quotHi honey Okay cool I39m on stage right now but go ahead Yeah Oh that sounds great That39s great You know they should bring the truck up They should bring the truck so they can go to Universal after that Okay Call Stan though because he39ll be able to get to you Okay That39s okay honey They39re enjoying this It39s the whole Press TourquotThe truth is while many of the young bloggers in the room were amused by Grammer39s behavior many of the serious critics and journalists were getting pissed off Imagine if their cell phones rang and they took nonemergency calls while Grammer was trying to talk to them You can find some of their Twitter tirades at TCAs12Meanwhile as Grammer chatted away his costars got restless quotI like your sneakersquot Lathan said to Tip Harris otherwise known as the rapper TIquotThank youquot Harris replied quotThese are the Olympic JordansquotquotFabulousquot Lathan exclaimedMuch later in the session a critic asked Grammer to explain why he took the call during a press conferencequotWell there are some things that are more important than others and the wellbeing of my wife sits atop the chartsquot Grammer repliedI won39t repeat some of the words critics were using after the session to describe Grammer39s decision to take a nonemergency call during a press session and keep a room full of people waiting I will note that a similar situation took place a couple of years ago and was handled in a much more thoughtful manner During a press conference with the cast of AMC39s quotBreaking Badquot cast member Aaron Paul39s cell phone rang He took the call because it was from his mother and he wanted to make sure it wasn39t an emergency It went something like this quotHi mom Is everything okay I39m in the middle of something can I call you right back Love youquotRemarkably publicists for quotBossquot actually sent out a press release about the incident along with a photo of Grammer happily chatting with his wife as if it had been a good thing Then again Grammer39s behavior probably generated more publicity about quotBossquot than the press conference would have without itOf greater concern there are a number of significant cable networks that have been noticeably absent during the cable portion of this tour including the Turner Networks AMC Lifetime History AampampE and We Granted they were all here last January during the Winter Tour but their collective absence has set to grumbling the many critics and reporters who do not attend TCA39s annual January gathering Surely there are good reasons for these networks to remain actively involved in both TCA tours given the everincreasing competition they face for viewers in the modern media landscape Indeed we39ve seen more of Hulu at TCA tours this year than we have any of the individual networks referenced aboveOne reason that the cable days at the tour have become so light is that many networks have moved into the TCA schedules of their bigger broadcast siblings For example Showtime presents its panels during one of CBS39 two days and the many networks of NBCUniversal Cable are squeezed into NBC39s TCA time Unfortunately the three NBCU Cable networks that critics like best amp8211 USA Network Syfy and Bravo were excluded from NBC39s lineup even though the second day of the company39s TCA time which featured a breakfast with talent and executives from mun2 panels for programs on Oxygen and Style and a lavish luncheon with the stars of several new shows on E ended rather prematurely at 2 pmWord is spreading about the increased presence of online channels and programming platforms at TCA tours In addition to major presentations here by Yahoo YouTube and Hulu mun2 and Discovery both included personalities from their original online programming in their TCA events It won39t be long before an entire day or two at TCA tours are dedicated to online shows In fact if cable networks continue to reduce their overall presence here I can see online networks and channels eclipsing themOne basic cable network that will never be eclipsed at TCA tours is BBC America The network presented four lively panels for upcoming programs amp8211 one of them the network39s first original series quotCopperquot about an Irish American cop fighting crime and corruption in postCivil War New York City Later that evening it threw a spectacular evening party at a West Hollywood hot spot made over to resemble Eva39s Paradise a bar and bordello featured in the series BBC America even hired a troupe of actors to roam about the party and spontaneously burst into song and the occasional fight I can39t recall a TCA event quite like this oneThe cable portion of the Summer TCA Tour kicked off Thursday morning with something distinctly different amp8211 a telecast from one of the smaller ballrooms at the Beverly Hilton of that morning39s edition of quotTalking Liberally with Stephanie Millerquot which runs daily on Current TV from 69 am I39m not sure how it looked on television or how it sounded amp8211 because the ballroom was filled with critics and other journalists along with executives from Current and personalities from other programs on the network eating breakfast clanking utensils and loudly gabbing throughout the 90minute session and collectively they proved to be a noisy group But Miller didn39t seem fazed by it when the telecast endedThis marks the second consecutive Current session at the twiceyearly TCA tours that stood out from the many other cable networks that host sessions during cable39s portion of the TCA experience Last January Current served up network chairman and media magnet Al Gore who spoke at length and with much gusto about changes in the network39s format and brand from a hodgepodge of homemade videos culled from currentcom to a network dedicated to covering politics from every angle In just this year alone Current has moved to the toptier of mustattend TCA sessions

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Cable at TCA: Kelsey Grammer Shows the Press Who's Boss, BBC America Throws an Epic Party, Too Many Networks Skip the Tour and More - Ed Martin

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