The TV Addict 

Amrie Cunningham on the set of BURN NOTICE

It’s only the middle of June and already I’ve got a wicked “What I did on my summer vacation” story to share with you all. A little over a week ago, I had the great pleasure of spending some time on the set of a little show we all know (and should absolutely love). USA was great enough to invite a few members of the online media word (read: bloggerati) to visit Miami and the set of BURN NOTICE!

I arrived on a Thursday afternoon, just a few hours before our scheduled dinner at The Chart House with the mastermind behind the whole show, the absolutely hilarious and incredibly personable Matt Nix. We had a great time at dinner, talking about the show. In the only conversation of the two days that we didn’t get a chance to record (I think we all had our recorders in our bags, but no one wanted to break that ice), Matt told us stories about how the show came to be, about why he ended up in Miami, and what might happen to various characters if he suddenly stops getting along with their portrayer! He offered great insight into the world of BURN NOTICE and why he likes filming in Miami. He wasn’t just putting us on, either. You can tell just by the way he tells a story, that he truly loves his job and couldn’t ask for anything better.

One of my favorite stories of the night was him telling us about shooting last year’s finale, when they blew up a car with a missile and created a giant mushroom cloud in the middle of downtown Miami. He recalled watching the dailies and thinking how cool it was that they had gotten all these extras to drive through Miami as they caused this damage on the bridge. When he realized that they weren’t extras, that it was actually Miami traffic, his thoughts immediately went to the crazy fact that no one stopped. Not a single person on the bridge stopped to check out the mushroom cloud. It’s a hilarious commentary on where our minds are. Mushroom cloud = normal, naturally.

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By: Amrie Cunningham [My Take on TV]

Hey gang, did you miss me? It’s been a long time since I’ve done the Tuesday column thing and for that I absolutely apologize and promise we’re all back on track! This week, I want to spend some time with you all, with the hopes that by the end of the next few paragraphs or so, you’re as pumped about Season 3 of 30 DAYS as I am.

First things first, I think Morgan Spurlock is a genius. He isn’t preachy. He doesn’t force you to care, but somehow, after spending an hour with him or one of his weekly participants, you start thinking about changing things in your life. What he tries to do is show another side of things, the part of life you wouldn’t normally get to see and it’s some of the best television I’ve ever watched.

I was lucky enough to view all 6 episodes of the new season, starting June 3 at 10PM on FX, and, to be honest, my only complaint is that I wish there was more. Everything we love about seasons past is there – the raw emotion, the intriguing stories. This season, I feel like Morgan and Co. stepped it up a notch.

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By: Amrie Cunningham [My Take on TV]

We all have Upfronts on the brain this week, as we sit and get ready to hear what’s happening on some of our favorite networks. A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend USA Network’s Upfront presentation in Chicago. The number one cable network last year, USA has plans to build on that, and only get better as the years continue. They are wisely bringing back their two breakout hits from last season – the charming miniseries THE STARTER WIFE (now a weekly series, airing in early fall) and BURN NOTICE (which starts season 2 in July). Network anchors MONK and PSYCH were no-brainer pickups, both coming back with new episodes in July. MONK will air its 100th episode this summer! I also had the chance to see some clips and previews from USA’s latest offering, IN PLANE SIGHT, starring Mary McCormack about Witness Protection Marshalls in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It fits the USA mold and I think it’s going to be another addicting show (look for an interview with creator and executive producers as we draw nearer to the premiere).

While at the intimate cocktail party that they threw for their advertisers, I had the chance to meet and chat with Corbin Bernsen from PSYCH, Tony Shalhoub from MONK, Gabrielle Anwar from BURN NOTICE (and most importantly from WILD HEARTS CAN’T BE BROKEN, the amazing movie from the early 90s), as well as recent Wrestelmania competitor Maria, one of the WWE’s DIVAS. Not only were they some of the most upbeat and friendliest celebrities that I’ve had the chance to meet, they all genuinely seem thrilled to be a part of this continually-growing network.

I know we have fans of MONK that visit this site (me being one of the most hardcore of them all), so imagine my delight at getting time to chat with Tony Shalhoub. He’s soft spoken and gracious, and probably everything you think he would be, and more. We got the chance to talk about MONK, what the future holds, the 100th episode, and who he still hasn’t had the chance to work with.

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By: Amrie Cunningham [My Take on TV]

Recently I had the great opportunity to interview one of my personal favorites, Courteney Cox, star of DIRT [and that little show about six friends and a coffee shop]. In anticipation of DIRT’s second season, premiering this Sunday March 2 at 10PM on FX, Monica, umm… I mean Courteney was kind enough to spend a half an hour chatting it up with some of the sleazy and underhanded brilliant and good-looking reporters that DIRT so easily loves to dish about.

I was wondering, this season feels a little bit more ripped from the headlines, and we were just curious to know if that was something of a conscious choice, just following the past year of what’s gone on, or if it was just accidental?
Courtney Cox: No, it’s absolutely a choice. We thought that would be a good way to just start the season, and it is absolutely ripped from the headlines. We usually do a hybrid of celebrities and then add to the story like maybe what happened to cause this to happen to them or sum it up in a different way just for fun. But yes, it’s definitely relatable this year and I think it makes for just a more exciting television show.

Are there any other celebrities, because right now we have some story lines that are a little bit a la Nicole and Paris and David Hasselhoff, are there any other celebrities that we can expect to see something from? Any little tidbits you can give us on that?
Well, there is definitely going to be, in almost every episode you’ll see something that you will recognize, and that’s kind of hopefully the fun of it that you’ll be able to guess who this person we might be talking about, even though it’s not really about them. It could be about, like I said before, just a couple of people or a couple of situations. But yes, every episode there is that relatable kind of relatable story line.

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By: Amrie Cunningham [My Take on TV]

Lifetime is good to me. They recently sent over a preview copy of their latest inspirational movie called RACING FOR TIME. It’s inspired by the true story of a male prison guard who pulls together a track program for tough and violent female offenders at a juvenile facility. Charles S. Dutton (Emmy award winning actor and director) is fabulous, both as an actor and a director, in the main role. He is joined on screen by Elizabeth Pena and an up and coming young actress named Yaya Da Costa (some of you might recognize her from America’s Next Top Model). I had an opportunity to chat with her for a bit about working with “Roc” (Charles S. Dutton), why she wanted to be an actress, and who she admires.

Great film, I think it’s really in the vein of what Lifetime tries to do. It’s inspirational.
YaYa: I’m glad you watched it! It was controversial at first, but it is inspirational.

You’re right, it is controversial, but I think people will understand it, and you’re great in this.
Thank you!

Brings me to the first question – what made you interested in this role?
I just thought it was a great role. Any role, honestly for a young actor, is work, so that’s always good. It’s great to be excited when you’re going into an audition about the prospect of playing someone. Different from yourself. It makes it more. I just the different code of behavior and the different thought process that you use. My first instinct as a person in conflict resolution is to find the right words. But Vanessa’s is physical confrontation, so that was fun to explore.

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By: Amrie Cunningham

Tune in tonight to JERICHO’s second season premiere on CBS. It’s easy to understand, it’s a fun watch, and even if you’ve never seen the show, there’s plenty of exposition that will get you caught up in no time.

I will be the first person to admit (and I’ve done this on many occasions) that I didn’t watch JERICHO when it premiered last year. In fact, I only really started watching it as a New Year’s Resolution for the theTVaddict.com. But something happened in my marathon viewing of the show – I got hooked on these people and their town. It went from being a show about what happens when a bomb lands right near our town and Jake is our hero and golden boy, to being a show about how can Jericho survive, how can the people in the town make a better life, a new life, a different life for themselves?

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By: Amrie Cunningham [My Take on TV]

I say this all the time, but seriously, one of the greatest things about being a part of thetvaddict.com, besides the ability to have an excuse to watch hours upon hours of TV during any given week, is the really wonderful interviews I get to do. Last week, I had the chance to talk to Maite Schwartz, who plays Lisa on Quarterlife. From the creators of My So Called Life, the internet-based show follows 20-some-things interacting, loving, hating, learning, growing, etc., in 8-10 minute increments on a bi-weekly basis. As the show readies itself for a February premiere on NBC, Maite (who I’m sure is poised to become a serious household name) and I chatted for a bit about why she wanted to play Lisa, why acting has had such an amazing impact on her life, and why guys who play with food for a living are pretty awesome.

I’m completely addicted to Quarterlife. Seriously, when I know there’s going to be a new episode, I jump on the computer to make sure I catch it. I think it’s really gotten that way for a lot of viewers.
Maite Schwartz: My sisters are in college and a bunch of my friends who were like yeah I’m not going to get into it, a bunch of them are like, yeah, I’m addicted to it. It’s also cool, because you get the snippets that make you want more.

You only have 8-9 minutes of these people you get invested in; it’s a lot easier to say “I need to see more.”
Exactly. As much as I love watching a full hour episode, sometimes it’s like all at once, and then you’re like damn, I have to wait for the rest of the week and it’s just nice that you can get two shots a week. And I like that they have all the message boards and people can talk amongst themselves about that, so it’s pretty cool.

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By: Amrie Cunningham

Who is excited for the 4th Season Premiere of Lost? That’s me, raising my hands and flailing about with glee. In my quest to complete Season 1 through 3 before January 31 (that’s a story for another day), my love for the show has been completely renewed. Also helping to get me pumped about the new Thursday night time slot? A remarkably sincere and charming woman by the name of Elizabeth Mitchell (LOST’s own Juliet) who recently spent a good chunk of her afternoon chatting with me about what to expect and why she loves her character! A big thank you to all of the readers who contributed questions!

Lost is one of my favorite shows. It’s been one of my favorite shows, so I’m excited to talk with you about it.
Oh, I love it too! I’m always really happy to talk about it.

You’re no stranger to being a star on one of TV’s most talked about shows, specifically your arc on ER. How is Lost different?
I think the main difference is that the character was so complete in how much we got to see, how much they wrote for her, there was a beginning, a middle, and an end. There was just a huge arc where we got to see so many facets of this very complicated person [with Legaspi on ER]. And I don’t think I’ve had the opportunity to do that yet. And I also think that LOST is kind of huge in a way that I’ve never worked on a show that’s quite like this. I’ve never worked on a show that has this kind of following. ER was also huge, but a different kind of huge. Not better, not different. And I think with LOST, you have people who follow it pretty religiously and know every detail about it. I think they were so smart, the way they brought the character in. We have all the protagonists, we have everybody that we love and then to bring in someone that was a threat to them, that was an antagonist, always going to be someone that we were unsure of was a really good move. It gave them something to explore the other characters, and explore this character, and every single time that they added something to the character, I was always impressed with the way they did it. And the Ben role, as well. They did great things with the two of those roles. And I’ve really loved what Michael’s done, actually.

One of the biggest things we’ve heard from readers is an outcry for the fact that you and Michael were robbed of the multiple nominations you so definitely deserve. I can’t imagine why you aren’t being celebrated as much as you have.
Thank you very much. I’ve had the best time, as far as people on the street, or people talking about the character. It’s the strangest thing, but very gratifying to get that kind of feedback. When you do theatre, you go back stage, and people will talk about it, whether or not they liked it, and they definitely let you know, haha, and a lot of times you’ll do television, which I’ve been doing forever, or film, and you never really hear, but with LOST, I hear it all the time. At first, I heard when I was hated, hahaha, and then as the character, they started to make her more and more and more and more and more kind of interesting, I would hear this “hey, I actually really liked that, I thought that was really cool” or someone walking down the street saying “you terrify me and I work with really scary people”, but all of that has been really fun. It’s been really great to play a character that people are interested in. And that is something that I really experience first hand. I have played characters that I’ve heard about, but not on this daily basis. I can’t explain it other than to say that it’s unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before.

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Hey all, Amrie here. Do me a favor today in your web travels today, gang. I know we’re all wondering what we can do to show our support for the fabulous writers we all love so much. Please take some time to read through the truly inspiring essays by some of our favorites in the WHY WE WRITE series. Filled with fabulous essays from SCRUBS’ creator Bill Lawrence, 24 genius Howard Gordon, LOSTerminds Damon Lindelof, and a wide variety of other funny, inspiring, passionate people, this will help tide you over until the horrible S-word wraps up.

The idea was put into motion by executive producers of SCI FI’s fabulous series EUREKA, Thania St. John and Charlie Craig. When they finally had some time to sit and ask each other why they write, after all these years in the business, it inspired them to ask others, and thus a great website was created.

The site is whywewriteseries.wordpress.com. I promise you’ll enjoy what you read. And maybe you’ll even be inspired to submit your own essay about why you write, why you watch, or why you were inspired.

Make sure to leave us comments, let us know what you think. And spread the word – pass on the link to friends. Show these writers that we’re still paying attention and our support is not going away.

I watch a lot of TV. Probably, more TV than I should. I watch TV instead of sleeping some times. Why do I tell you what you probably already know? To explain the difficulty that I’m having in narrowing down my (few days late) favorite shows list. It’s pained me to have to leave off old favorites (I’m sorry, Heroes, but you just aren’t cutting it…) and I was so excited to have a fabulously gorgeous new show to add to the list this year (welcome Piemaker and friends). I’m sure I’m leaving your favorites off of my top 11 shows of 2007, but keep reading – there’s a ridiculously long list of honorable mentions at the bottom!

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
Say what you will about the Landry/Tyra plot (a plot that I enjoyed), there is no show like this on TV. Family dynamics at their best and sometimes worst, a whole town coming together, pain, angst, hatred, disgust, love, lust, Christianity, depraved hedonism, this show has it all. Amazing. If you don’t believe that you can get caught up and love the show just as much as I do, take my sister as a prime example. Starting the weekend after Christmas, Mary tucked into bed, laid around for hours upon hours, smitten with the show after 2 minutes of the pilot. She’s now all caught up, just like me, and now she’s going through withdrawal as she tries to make the wait until Friday Night go super fast!

PUSHING DAISIES
Never was I so smitten with a first episode, and the characters in the first episode, as I was with this show. I know there are folks out there who think this one is too sugary-sweet, but I love the escape from the real world that this show never fails to give me. The Piemaker and his sweetheart, A Girl named Chuck, make me root for love. Olive Snook is the perfect character for Kristen Chenowith, and we all know how much I love Chi McBride. Oh and can I mention the greatest Aunts (mothers?) ever on screen and the best emoting-dog in the world? The stories are wacky, the colors are gorgeous, and I just can’t wait for the horrid strike to end (I support the writers, I promise) so that I can see new stories unfold!

VERONICA MARS
Until the end of time, this show will rank as one of my all time favorite shows. Is that a big promise to make to a television series? Come on! The lead character had spunk and style, and charm, and class, and sass and she just made it fun to watch! Did I mention my love for Logan Echolls? Sure, he’s a jackass, and yes, he made some pretty frakked up decisions, but he was always my favorite. I love Wallace (though he was painfully underutilized in the final season) and I love Veronica’s solid relationship with Papa Keith. Mac was a great best friend, Parker wasn’t terrible (except for the whole loving Logan thing) and Piz was an adorable new friend (I hated the relationships between Piz and Veronica, but I loved the friendship!). Dick Casablancas always made it hilarious. It was a big shame to see my pal Michael Muhney’s character kick the bucket, but it was done with Veronica Mars flair, and I couldn’t ask for anything better. I only wish that Dawn Ostroff hadn’t over promised and had put us VM fans out of our misery way sooner than she did.

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