Ed Martin Live at TCA: "Two and a Half Men" Team Stays Away from CBS' Day at TCA

Since when has Ashton Kutcher been too busy to do anythingMembers of the Television Critics Association yesterday were told that the selfmade King of Twitter along with his Two and a Half Men costars and their executive producer were apparently too busy with work to appear during CBS39 day at the Summer 2011 tourIt was an otherwise very satisfying day with sessions for all of the network39s new shows plus one with CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley There were many extra touches throughout the highlight being the presentation of one of David Letterman39s Top Ten Lists taped especially for the TCA in which Josh Groban sang ten little known songs about television But the missing men of Men were very much on critics39 mindsDuring her session which started the day CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler was asked by one critic whyMen was not included on the network39s TCA schedulequotThey39re in production this weekquot was Tassler39s replyNow production of Kutcher39s first episode began on Monday making yesterday Day Three of Week One as opposed to Day Five when it will actually tape and its home base is Warner Bros in Burbank not that far from the Beverly Hilton home to this summer39s tour so Tassler39s response seemed a bit of a stretch Many networks over the years have gone to great lengths to bring talent to TCA even flying them in from other countries or interrupting their vacations The suggestion that the people involved with CBS39 biggest programming story and the most exciting casting coup of the year couldn39t take an hour or two to dash over to the Hilton answer a few questions and dash back to the studio before their morning coffee break felt somewhat hollow to say the leastBesides almost every new and returning series that is appearing during the broadcast days at TCA is quotin productionquot including CBS39 own CSI Crime Scene Investigation like Men getting renewed attention this season with the casting of a new leading man That would be Ted Danson who was here later in the morning with several CSI cast members and producers to talk about the upcoming twelfth season of the series In fact they even showed a clip from the season premiere that gave reporters a good understanding of what Danson39s character will bring to the show That39s how it39s doneActually having seen Kutcher in action over the years at many different TCA sessions I think he can do just about anything including field a few questions about replacing Charlie Sheen If Men creator and executive producer Chuck Lorre and costar Jon Cryer didn39t want to show up Kutcher could have gone solo turned on the charm and would have very likely owned the roomI understand that everyone involved with the show is doing his or her best to keep the details of its season premiere out of the press even if their cone of silence is cracking apart by the day In fact Tassler made clear that one reason for keeping mum about Kutcher39s arrival on Men is that the mystery is part of the big All Will Be Revealed marketing campaign CBS has launched for the show And I39m certain they are all tired of questions about Sheen But to put this in language that Hollywood39s top television writers would appreciate this was the time for Kutcher Lorre and Cryer to put on their big boy pants and meet the pressTassler did provide some vital information about the new Men She revealed that Kutcher39s character is named Walden Schmidt that Schmidt is quotan Internet billionaire with a broken heartquot and that he is a quotunique characterquot which may mean that he has no previous ties to the existing characters on the show39s canvas She also confirmed reports that the season premiere will be a twopart episode She did not confirm the frenzied press reports that Sheen39s character Charlie Harper will be dead at the season39s start I presume the frenzy will continue right up until the twopart season premiere has been telecast That39s actually good news for the show and for CBS and even better news for broadcast overallSpeaking of good news for CBS Tassler amp8211 still the most dynamic network executive on any TCA stage opened her session by reminding the room about her network39s accomplishments quotYou39ve heard me say this many times and I39m happy to get to say it againquot she began quotWe39re the No 1 network in viewers We39re the No 1 network in Upfront market revenue and this season surprise surprise we are the No 1 broadcast network in Emmy nominations and I39m really happy about thatquotquotRatings revenue and Emmy nominations that39s a pretty cool trifecta that speaks to the network39s quality on the screen and our appeal to viewers as well as advertisersquot she continued quotNow if we can get the love from the TV critics life would be perfectquot

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Ed Martin Live at TCA: "Two and a Half Men" Team Stays Away from CBS' Day at TCA

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