FX Brings TCA to a Memorable End with a Hot New Series and a Riotous New Take on NBC's Conan O'Brien Blunder - Ed Martin - MediaBizBloggers

FX yesterday closed out the cable portion of the Winter 2010 Television Critics Association tour with a presentation on behalf of an upcoming show that generated more interest among critics and reporters than any other new scripted series seen here since the tour beganThe show titled Justified is an action drama created by Graham Yost The Pacific that is centered on Raylon Givens a Kentuckybased Deputy US Marshal with a troubled past who was created by and has appeared in several stories by acclaimed crime novelist Elmore Leonard Givens is played by Timothy Olyphant who was recently seen in a supporting role on FX39s Damages and before that HBO39s Deadwood Leonard is among the series39 executive producersIt seems to be the consensus here that Justified will be a perfect addition to FX39s stable of franchises built around strong men who bend the rules when times get tough from The Shield to Rescue Me to Sons of Anarchy and back when it was good NipTuck There have been many standout programs previewed here during the last ten days including the documentary miniseries Life on Discovery and the World War II epic The Pacific on HBO but there hasn39t been a new ongoing series that has made so immediate a positive impact on so many critics as this oneOf course it helped tremendously that FX did such a good job introducing the show To begin with the network took over a threehour block of time on Sunday a day during which other networks had refused to schedule sessions because they thought TCA members would be too busy with the Golden Globes They were wrong It would have been a very dull day had FX not stepped up offering a QampampA with FX President John Landgraf and sessions with the casts and producers of Damages including Golden Globe nominees Glenn Close and Rose Byrne who weren39t too busy prepping for the Globes to stop by TCA and promote their show Justified including Elmore Leonard and the upcoming comedy series Louie starring comedian Louis CK real last name Szekeley as well as a networksponsored breakfast and lunchOne might say the critics came for Glenn Close and her costars in Season 3 of Damages Martin Short and Lily Tomlin both via satellite and stayed for Timothy Olyphant and Louis CK Those who did were treated to an extremely Rrated take from Louis on the Conan crisis as detailed belowClearly the magnificent Close is a hard act to follow but Olyphant was right at home with the press When one critic observed quotYou don39t necessarily strike me as the prototypical tough nervesofsteel guyquot then asked quotWhat do you think it is about you that you project that made people want you in those rolesquot Olyphant didn39t miss a beat and broke up the room with his responsequotI think the question is 39What are you missing that everyone else is seeing39quotThere is nothing TCA members appreciate more than an actor who isn39t afraid to spar with them Which brings me to FX39s other likely breakout star Louis CKComedian Louis CK stars in FX39s upcoming comedy quotLouiequotBest remembered by critics for his notverygood HBO sitcom Lucky Louie Louis seems to fare much better in his new FX comedy which features a blend of his standup comedy and scripted vignettes based on his personal life It39ll fit right in with It39s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and The LeagueSince the session for Louie was the last press conference of an especially lively January tour that was dominated by talk of NBC39s titanic Jay LenoConan O39Brien blunder and since Louis worked on O39Brien39s first latenight writing staff it was only fitting that the last question was about this fascinating mess quotI love Conan and I think he39ll be finequot Louis replied Then he went off about the fact that through the years people had come to refer to O39Brien39s previous gig Late Night with Conan O39Brien simply as ConanquotThat39s how much he made it hisquot Louis declared quotI don39t know why you39d want to give that up to host The Tonight Show That39s just this old shitty thing I mean who cares Let Jay have it you know It39s been a traumatic thing for them all to go through I felt for everybody except for that Jed Jizz rhymes with trucker whatever his name isquotquotZucker Sorry I thought it was Jizz rhymes with truckerquot Louis continued after helpful critics called out NBC Universal President and CEO Jeff Zucker39s name quotHe39s just a great villain I don39t know the guy He39s probably a great guy but he39s just doing all these crazy things and making everybody mad He39s greatquotLouis paused and then went after Leno quotJay is a driven American guyquot he said quotHe39s working class He39s from Danvers Mass which is close to where I grew up He39s a Boston comic which is what I am and he39s like 39This is my show I39m rhymes with trucking holding onto that show39 He39s not kidding around He39s just holding on and he won I mean it39s pretty impressive what he pulled offquotConan will be finequot he continued quotHe39s a rich Harvardeducated wellheeled milkandhoneyfed fella so he39ll be okay And he39ll be the first one to tell you that I think he39ll end up somewhere else and he39ll go back to doing Conan It39s hurting him inside because he wants to be the host of The Tonight ShowquotIt39s a little presumptuous for me to tell him that his dreams are misguidedquot Louis concluded to much laughter quotBut they are I39m certain of thatquot

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FX Brings TCA to a Memorable End with a Hot New Series and a Riotous New Take on NBC's Conan O'Brien Blunder - Ed Martin - MediaBizBloggers

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FX Brings TCA to a Memorable End with a Hot New Series and a Riotous New Take on NBC's Conan O'Brien Blunder - Ed Martin - MediaBizBloggers

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