Category Archives: Summer TV Press Tour 2010

A Great Fall from Fall River

By Roger Catlin | Published: November 1, 2011
In a town already renown for its basketball, and a family that had its share of stars, Chris Herren was a whiz. He was a once in a generation point guard who could do it all. The film now of his work for Durfee High School still amazes. Little wonder he was picked up by [...]
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Paul McCartney’s Stab at a 9/11 Documentary

By Roger Catlin | Published: August 5, 2011
Of the avalanche of programming planned for the 10th anniversary of 9/11, the most entertaining may be “The Love You Make,” the documentary of Paul McCartney’s organization of the concert at Madison Square Garden for firefighters, debuting Saturday on Showtime. Shot in black and white by Albert Maysles, who had chronicled the Beatles first trip [...]
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Timing ‘Downton Abbey’

By Roger Catlin | Published: August 5, 2011
There has been massive confusion regarding the size of “Downton Abbey,” which occurred since its seven episodes in England but cut down to four 90-minute episodes for use on “Masterpiece Classic” in the U.S. “Masterpiece Theatre” got all of the UK action except for about 20 to 25 minutes, show producer Rebecca Eaton said. “It [...]
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Monday TV: William Hurt Takes On ‘Moby Dick’

By Roger Catlin | Published: August 1, 2011
William Hurt takes on a beard pegleg and a brusque personality as Captain Ahab in the latest interpretation of Herman Melville’s masterpiece. The two part “Moby Dick” (Encore, 8 p.m.) co-stars Ethan Hawke as Starbuck with brief appearances by Donald Sutherland as the fiery preacher on land and Gillian Anderson as the wife left behind. [...]
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A Familiar Matthew Perry in ‘Mr. Sunshine’

By Roger Catlin | Published: February 11, 2011
Matthew Perry fits his role in the new sitcom “Mr. Sunshine” quite well, in part because it’s based on himself. “I like to say that this character is me, like, five years ago before any possible enlightenment 
could have come into my life,” he told reporters at press tour last year. But it’s a role [...]
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No Shame in Allison Janney’s ‘Sunshine’

By Roger Catlin | Published: February 11, 2011
While “Mr. Sunshine” is a vehicle for Matthew Perry, it’s been a standout role for Alison Janney as a demanding and loopy arena owner who in the first episode throws children at clowns who frighten her with axes and requests a bedroom session with the visiting John Mellencamp. “I spent seven years being politically correct [...]
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When George Met Gerald: Harrison, Ford

By Roger Catlin | Published: November 27, 2010
When PBS got a couple of White House photographers to talk about the special that premiered Wednesday, ““National Geographic Television presents The President’s Photographer:  50 Years in the Oval Office,” naturally the subject of celebrity meetings came up. The Nixon photographer wasn’t there to talk about Elvis’ bizarre meeting, but David Kennerly from the Ford [...]
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A Nature World of Slo-Mo

By Roger Catlin | Published: November 8, 2010
As satisfying as these big new sweeping HD nature series on cable are, one thing that gets to me is how often they slow the action down so often, to better capture and extend the grandeur. Great. It looks smashing. But does it give a very good idea of how fast these animals really travel [...]
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From ‘Carrier’ to ‘Circus’

By Roger Catlin | Published: November 4, 2010
The last time Maro Chermayeff and Jeff Dupre produced a long-form documentary for PBS, it was about life on an aircraft carrier. But what’s different about “Circus” from the 2008 “Carrier” is the wide variet of colorful personalites. Also, Chermayeff said at press tour, “Circus performers are tougher than pilots. I never thought that was [...]
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Easing into ‘Sherlock’

By Roger Catlin | Published: October 30, 2010
Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays the wiley new”Sherlock” in the current series on “Masterpiece Mystery” on PBS, said the Holmes character was a bit daunting to try. “It is the most played literary fictional character,” he says, a bit dazed. “It’s in the Guinness Book of Records for it. I follow in the footsteps of about
 [...]
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