Interview: Cra$h & Burn's Caroline Cave

I interviewed actress Caroline Cave from the upcoming Cra$h & Burn and the current Saw VI:

• Interview: Cra$h & Burn's Caroline Cave
  "Luke Kirby's Jimmy Burn is clearly the title character of Cra$h & Burn, premiering Wednesday on Showcase. Catherine Scott, played by Vancouver actress Caroline Cave, may just be the Crash. 'It was a clever spin,' she says of the Toronto Star article that so labelled her. 'I had failed to see it so directly, but it's actually true. We see her in the middle of a divorce, with a demotion in her career. She's sleeping around a lot, she's drinking a lot. We meet her on her descent, whereas Jimmy's on his way climbing up and out.'" Read more.

Emmy outrage

The Emmy time-shifting controversy grew after I posted my initial rant. Over 150 showrunners/executive producers signed a petition, the Writers and Directors Guilds are accusing the Academy of breaking their agreement, and an Emmy producer was obnoxious at the TCA press tour. This post has reactions from Hart Hanson (Bones), Lawrence Kaplow (House), and Anonymous Writer, as well as the previous ones from Jeff Greenstein (Parenthood) and Adam Barken (Flashpoint):

• TV Writers Protest Emmy Changes
  "I've always dreamed of winning an Emmy," the anonymous writer commented. "And now I'm on a show that could actually win, and the trophy looks golden, but I know deep down she's a ****." Read more.

Yeah, I hated censoring but a) Blogcritics wouldn't have printed it and b) it's my least favourite word ever. But a great quote.

Interview: Andrew Airlie of Defying Gravity

I write nothing for Blogcritics for 3 months, then 4 in a week. My latest is an interview with Canadian actor Andrew Airlie (Intelligence, Reaper):

• Interview: Andrew Airlie of Defying Gravity
  "I don't think they went into it with the idea, 'OK, let's find something that will satisfy the sci-fi and the Grey's crowd,'" Airlie explained, pointing out the inspiration for the show was the BBC pseudo-documentary Space Odyssey: Voyage to the Planets. "They found the source material interesting on its own, and they dramatized it and boosted the production value." Read more.

The Emmys Snub Writers ... Again

I rant a little at Blogcritics about the Emmy change announced yesterday. The Emmys diminishing the role of the writer should be as unthinkable as the Oscars diminishing the role of the director.

• The Emmys Snub Writers ... Again
  "Jeff Greenstein, currently a writer/producer on the upcoming Parenthood, formerly with Desperate Housewives, and a long-time Emmy judge, said the news was the talk of the writers' room. 'I find it ironic that the year after the skit with the five reality show hosts saying 'we got nothing' – the biggest bomb in Emmy history – that they’d kick the writing awards off the show.'" Read more.
  

Interview: Quinn Cummings of Notes From The Underwire

Here's my interview with author, word nerd, and Oscar nominee Quinn Cummings:

• Interview: Author Quinn Cummings of Notes From The Underwire
  "I suspect – I hope – we’re coming into a more modest, more realistic age, where the goal of life won't be to get the Bentley you drive to the Hamptons. Aspiring to that much fabulousness is exhausting. Sometimes I can practically hear the exhalations of relief when someone writes in to admit that they, too, are just trying to get through a day without falling up a flight of stairs." Read more.
  

Interview with Passenger Side writer/director Matthew Bissonnette and actor Joel Bissonnette

My latest at Blogcritics, after a long absence:

• Passenger Side Takes An Eccentric Ride Around LA
  "It's fitting that Passenger Side, a film about a day-long road trip around Los Angeles and environs, had its premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival. It's also fitting that I saw it two hours after arriving in Los Angeles after being the passenger on a week-long road trip. But the LA of Passenger Side is not the LA of a tourist, unless that tourist were particularly fond of transsexual prostitutes, middle-of-nowhere gas stations, and low-rent porn shoots." Read more.
  

House Confirms TV Trend: "Normal's Overrated"

My first (mostly) House article for Blogcritics in forever includes interviews with two mental health professionals: the president of the American Psychiatric Association and a psychologist/psychotherapist:

House Confirms TV Trend: "Normal's Overrated"

As the 2008-09 television season ends and networks begin to reveal plans for their 2009-10 schedules, a surprising pattern emerges.

Pilots in contention for the upcoming season include NBC's Legally Mad, with Kristin Chenoweth as an attorney with flashes of psychosis, and FOX's Maggie Hill, whose title character is a heart surgeon with schizophrenia. Canada’s Showcase recently ordered Shattered, a 13-episode series starring Callum Keith Rennie as an ex-detective with dissociative identity disorder.

Renewed freshmen series Fringe and 90210 feature main characters coping with psychiatric conditions. And among the more senior series, House led up to Monday's season finale with a storyline involving suicide and Hugh Laurie's dysfunctional doctor questioning his sanity after confronting his inner Cutthroat Bitch: Wilson's dead girlfriend Amber appeared to him as a facet of his tormented psyche.

Read more.

Interview: George F. Walker and Dani Romain of The Line

My interview with The Line co-creators George F. Walker and Dani Romain. Sorry again for the punny title - it's my default when I can't think of anything else:

• Cops and Drug Dealers Cross The Line In New Series
  “The Movie Network and Movie Central are premiering a new cop show today, but don’t expect another case-of-the-week premise. ‘These cops weren’t going to investigate anything because they think they know all they need to know, so it’s just a matter of what they’re going to do about it,’ said The Line co-creator George F. Walker in a recent interview. ‘They don’t follow procedures. They are past caring about their jobs.’” Read more.

For stupid people or smart dogs

I know, I know, I never write, I never call. The lack of activity will likely continue until about March 2010, so I will make no promises about rebooting this blog nor will I continue to apologize when I do happen to re-emerge, because I know that just gets annoying. If you happen to still be reading, though, I have to share my laugh of the week:

Non-Potable Water - DO NOT DRINK

Taken at the new speed skating oval. Sorry for the poor image quality but I was taking a picture of a toilet - the haste apparently made my hands shake.

Interview with actor Eli Goree

My interview with the actor from Da Kink in My Hair and Soul:

• Actor Eli Goree Conquers Canadian Television, Two Shows At A Time
  "Some people see acting as a frivolous job, but I think it's so much more than that," he told me. "I think it's the responsibility and accountability of artists to guide society a little. We have the opportunity to show people where they're at, where they've been, and where they could go. It's not be to be taken lightly." Read more.