Ed Martin Live at TCA: Jerry Lewis, "Downton Abbey," "Spartacus," "Beavis and Butt-head" and More: Highlights of the Summer 2011 TCA Tour So Far

This is the time at the twiceyearly Television Critics Association tours when I begin to wonder if the media will ever catch up with the consumers they serve That is to say there comes a moment at every TCA gathering when the cable and PBS portions come to an end and the broadcast portion begins or vice versa and at that moment the tours dramatically change Dozens of additional critics and reporters especially those from major media outlets ignore the cable and PBS days of each tour but descend in droves for the broadcast sessions Conversely if broadcast opens the tour these same people flee once it ends and the PBS and cable days begin This despite the fact that many of the new cable and PBS shows previewed here are superior to many broadcast programs and will prove more popular in the long runInterest in PBS programming is what it is depending on each individual outlet that covers television Many print and online publications choose to ignore it even though it features a wealth of entertaining and educational fare that millions of people appreciate I would argue that Elmo of Sesame Street has enjoyed a larger fan base over the years than many humans working in television today for that reason alone the broadcast elitists in the press would have been welladvised to attend yesterday39s PBS panel for the upcoming documentary Being Elmo A Puppeteer39s Journey about Kevin Clash the man who has brought Elmo to life over three decadesPBS over the weekend also offered excellent sessions for an American Masters documentary about the band Pearl Jam titled Pearl Jam Twenty featuring director and producer and Academy Awardwinner Cameron Crowe the mindbending NOVA miniseries The Fabric of the Cosmos with physicist author and memorable Big Bang Theory guest star Brian Greene The Elegant Universe the second season of PBS39 tantalizing breakout hit Downton Abbey and Prohibition the latest miniseries from America39s best known documentary filmmakers Ken Burns and Lynn Novick Interestingly there was such fervent anticipation among the critics last week about actors from Downton Abbey appearing here on Sunday that a casual observer might have mistakenly assumed PBS was bringing in the cast of Glee or readying a reunion of the Lost castOther PBS panelists included Smokey Robinson and Human Nature for Smokey Robinson Presents Human Nature The Ultimate Celebration House star Hugh Laurie for the Great Performances production Hugh Laurie Let Them Talk amp8211 A Celebration of New Orleans Blues andamp160 Mira Sorvino and Mariel Hemingway for the American Masters production Seriously Funny amp8211 The Comic Art of Woody Allen Taken together this is a lineup of programs that will likely prove far more interesting to many more people than most of the new sitcoms and dramas that the broadcast networks are going to present this weekThe same is true of the dozens of upcoming cable series and specials that were previewed here last week The cable standouts included the timely Hallmark Channel movie William ampamp Catherine A Royal Romance the History documentary miniseries Vietnam in HD the Lifetime movie Five a collection of five interconnected short films that deal with breast cancer directed by Jennifer Aniston Alicia Keys Demi Moore Patty Jenkins and Penelope Spheeris the latter the only one of the five who appeared at TCA to promote her work National Geographic Channel39s Rocket City Rednecks and Mad Scientists both featuring colorful amateur inventors the Discovery Channel event series Curiosity which explores a number of questions about the existence of man the Earth and the universe Saved an Animal Planet series about animals that have given troubled people a new lease on life The Hub39s Majors ampamp Minors a music competition series featuring young performers who are carefully mentored and never voted off the show Starz39 Boss about a ruthless Chicago mayor played by Kelsey Grammer Starz39 eagerly anticipated Spartacus Vengeance the latest chapter in the network39s ultraviolent sexually supercharged sword and sandal drama and the return of MTV39s animated Beavis and Butthead which had many critics more excited than much of the new broadcast or cable programs coming in the months aheadPerhaps the most memorable session of the tour so far featured an appearance by the legendary Jerry Lewis on hand to talk about his career as it is recalled in the upcoming Encore documentary The Method to the Madness of Jerry Lewis Sharp spry and uninhibited at 85 Lewis let fly on a number of subjects including the state of the entertainment industry in general and television in particularquotWe don39t have the soul in our industry that we had when I was workingquot Lewis exclaimed quotThe soul has been desperately deteriorated only because you got a guy that39s running a network whose aunt died and left him some stock He39s now an executive in charge of entertainment Do I sound pessimisticquotI love my industryquot Lewis went on building steam quotI love what it does I don39t allow people in my family to use the term 39TV39 That39s stupid It39s 39television39 It39s a miracle It39s entitled to that respect and that39s the way I am about itquotWhen I watch it I want it to grab mequot he said quotI want it to be like amp8230 when we ran home to see Milton Berle on a Tuesday night Nobody wants to run home now and see anything They run home and hope there39s something And we got to fix thatquotMore attention in the print and online press directed to some of the shows mentioned in this column might help bring about the fix Lewis was calling for

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Ed Martin Live at TCA: Jerry Lewis, "Downton Abbey," "Spartacus," "Beavis and Butt-head" and More: Highlights of the Summer 2011 TCA Tour So Far

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Ed Martin Live at TCA: Jerry Lewis, "Downton Abbey," "Spartacus," "Beavis and Butt-head" and More: Highlights of the Summer 2011 TCA Tour So Far

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