(Subscriber Report) Ed Martin Live from TCA: Joan Rivers Trashes Jay Leno, Michael Eisner Debuts a New Cartoon, Starz Introduces a Shocking New Series

The most extraordinary thing about the cable portion of the Television Critics Association tour is the diversity of topics that members find themselves navigating during the course of the day.

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Take yesterday, for example. The day began with several sessions by MTV Networks, the standout being the one for TV Land Prime's upcoming series How'd You Get So Rich? starring Joan Rivers. The title of the show is self-explanatory: Cameras follow Rivers as she runs up to people who appear to have big bucks and asks how they made their money. (Those who inherited wealth or scored on Wall Street are excluded.) The tireless Ms. Rivers did more to energize the TCA membership than anyone else so far. Before she was through, she told us the fabulous perks of her career were "better than Auschwitz," refused to identify the most annoying rich person she has ever encountered ("because these are people I still sup with and pretend I like"), referred to her Celebrity Apprentice nemesis Annie Duke as "Annie Douche" and trashed Jay Leno.

"I think it's brilliant that they put Leno on at 10:00 because now Americans can get bored more easily and go to sleep earlier," she said. "When was the last time you said, 'Did you hear what Leno said last night?' Never!"

Rivers was followed by former media kingpin Michael Eisner, now a producer of animated fare for cable television among other endeavors. He's got a new one for Nick at Nite called Glenn Martin, DDS, about a dentist who brings his reluctant family, including his text-obsessed kids, on a cross-country road trip.

From there critics moved to a History panel for its upcoming special The People Speak, which recalls the efforts of ordinary Americans who changed the course of history and is based on the book A People's History of the United States by activist, educator and historian Howard Zinn. Without meaning to do so, the articulate Zinn largely stole the spotlight from fellow panelists Matt Damon (an executive producer of and performer in the special) and Marisa Tomei (also a performer).

Zinn is one of those people you can listen to for hours with no concept of how much time is passing. (He was also History executive vice president and general manager Nancy Dubuc'spolitical science professor at Boston University.) "So many people are inspired by the fact that people fought back all the way through (American history)," he said. "The slaves fought back. The ex-slaves fought back. The Revolutionary War soldiers fought back against their conditions. The working people fought back against employers. Victories were won. The victories were won not because the three branches of government came through and did the right thing. The victories were won because ordinary people got together and struggled, whether they were against slavery or for the eight-hour day or for the rights of women or against war."

Zinn opened the minds of the TCA membership, but not as much as one of the panelists in the National Geographic Channel session that followed. NASA scientist Chris McKay, who appeared on behalf of the special Mars: Making the New Earth, part of NGC's second annual Expedition Week franchise, told the TCA that "understanding human consciousness" is the next great frontier. "The scientific mystery that's in front of us every day all the time and we don't even have a clue," he asserted. "At least we know how to go to Mars and search for life. We don't even know where to start in terms of investigating consciousness."

On the subject of life on Mars, McKay said, "Mars had liquid water on the surface, flowing freely, and the fact is that water is still there even though it's frozen. What we need to do is warm up Mars to bring the water back. Warming up planets is one technology that we humans have mastered. We are applying it on the Earth, which is not necessarily a good idea, but on Mars it would work. It's the realization of global warming on Earth."

"This is what the show is about," McKay continued. "Do we want to make a decision to bring Mars back to life or do we want to leave it the way it is? Does it have a big sign on it, 'Please do not touch,' or does it have a sign on it, 'Do CPR right away. We are dying and we need help.'"

TCA members then met a group of true heroes, a group of heavily tattooed tough guys who formed an animal rescue league and have saved thousands of dogs and cats and other animals from abusive or neglectful environments. An upcoming NGC series titled Rescue Ink Unleashed will document the great work that they do.

Shortly thereafter, critics were mesmerized by a session for the upcoming action drama Spartacus: Blood and Sand on Starz. The ultra-violent, nudity filled clip the network showed was so intense it made HBO's late, lamented Rome look like a Disney movie. (This was the unedited version of the clip Starz presented last weekend at Comic-Con.) The series will have a highly stylized look reminiscent of the feature films Sin City and 300and will be produced using virtual environments.

"Nothing will be held back in terms of violence, sex or language," Starz Media Executive Vice President of Originals Production and Development Bill Hamm excitedly declared. Indeed, with its extreme ultra-violence and unprecedented male nudity (prosthetics were made for less endowed cast members), Spartacus could break boundaries even HBO and Showtime have not approached. TCA favorite Lucy Lawless is the star.

Expect to hear much more about all of these shows in the weeks and months to come.