I’m not about to pit one network against the other, but I should point out that Fox knows how to get a tired TV critic’s blood flowing. From the first session of the day, they threw candy, sugary drinks and interactive sessions at us, showing off their So You Think You Can Dance competitors and decorating each desk with a collection of salty almonds, peanut butter pretzels, sour JellyBelly jelly beans and chocolate M&Ms.
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At lunch, the hoopla continued when they shuffled us into another room for sustenance and a table read of The Cleveland Show, showcasing the talent while we clattered our silverware and spat up water at select jokes. The tables were decorated with a cardboard cutout of Cleveland himself, surrounded by 3D moving boxes; hitting home the point the character was leaving Family Guy for good.
But nothing compared to the Gordon Ramsay session, where we all were handed a special “meringue-making kit” and had the opportunity to follow along with Ramsay live as he prepared a baked Alaskan dessert, showing us just how his Followalong special would work this December. |
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My colleague had slipped out for the Ramsay session, because as he put it, “I don’t cover reality TV,” so I had ample room to get my whip on. At one point I was beating that egg and sugar so hard (nothing was cold, which made it a heck of a lot harder), that the guy behind me started laughing. “You’re really determined to get that thing to peak, huh?”
“A-ha!” I exclaimed, turning around and tilting my bowl upside down to prove I had succeeded, and in the process I sent some of the meringue from my whisk onto my absent colleague’s notepad. I guess that served him right for skipping out. |
The meringue kit
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Unfortunately, no amount of sugar or much-needed physical activity could absolve my exhaustion, and it was with heavy feet that I trudged back to my room at 6:30 p.m. to get ready for the 7 p.m. lawn party. I had hit that proverbial wall so hard at that point, it decided to smack me back. But I’m here for a reason, and that reason is to get the best possible coverage for my fellow Canadian TV junkies that I possibly can. So I ran my tired body under a piping hot shower, threw on the good old radio beats, and slipped into a dress and gladiator sandals (no aerating the lawns by this girl tonight).
As I walked down the hall to the party, I saw Ramsay striding off with a hotel guest in tow like an eager puppy, taking quick little steps to keep up with his long stride and gushing things like “I can’t believe you’re here!” and “I’ve been to [insert restauarant name] three times, it’s my favourite dining experience,” and so forth and so on. I doubt Ramsay’s face gets red very often, and although he was thanking her for the free-flowing compliments, I didn’t see him again the rest of the night.
Once on the lawn, the party itself was a seizure-inducing spectacle of spotlights, techno-beats and tent after tent of cushioned benches, food and booze. There was a fresh seafood bar with oysters, shrimp, lobster skewers and crab, a karaoke tent that would record your performance on DVD, mini-putt, crochet, a dessert tent with various fruits and pastries and of course, a couple of extra bars on the sides for those who preferred to stay out of the hoopla. Many critics brought their families and/or spouses, so the lawn was at full capacity. What I was having a hard time doing was finding any of the stars rumoured to be there. Olivia Wilde from House was on the list, but she was nowhere to be seen, nor was Hugh Laurie or Lisa Edelstein, who I found later inside one of the tents under lock and key by their managers and publicists.
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I did run into Fox’s hottest property, Seth MacFarlane, while I was with fellow critic Bill Harris from Sun Media, and I asked him how he found the time to work on three animated series and still show up for a bit on ABC’s FlashForward. “It does get tiring,” he admitted. “It’s a year-round job, it’s seven days a week. [But] I’m only on the first two episodes.”
MacFarlane went on to tell us that he doesn’t want to be the next Simpsons, and go on for an infinite number of years. In fact, he seems to already be planning the end of Family Guy.
“Ideally we would go another couple of years and then wrap it up,” he confessed. “That would be my perfect scenario. I can already see it coming. We’re in Season 8, and it gets harder and harder to do new stuff. Every show starts to suck after a certain point. We could already be there for all I know; I don’t know.”
It was on that note I grabbed MacFarlane another drink, since he had finished his and other critics were closing in, trapping him for what seemed like a good, long while. |
After shucking a couple of oysters in honour of my co-worker back home, Guilty Pleasures columnist Janine Oliveira (we first experienced the fine art at the HBO Canada launch together), I found myself in deep conversation with Henry Rollins, who just joined Sons of Anarchy for its second season, about Canadian Naomi Klein and the impact globalization has on Third World countries. It wasn’t a conversation you would expect to have at that specific time and place, but it was by far more interesting that my subsequent conversation with 22-year-old Glee star, Lea Michele, who told me how happy she was to be a part of the “Fox Family.” Her co-star, Cory Monteith, was slightly more interesting when he told me a star-struck story about running into Joshua Jackson in makeup earlier that day.
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“He was like, ‘Cory, right? Yeah I know who you are, man,’ And I was like, ‘Oh my God, that’s Josh Jackson!’”
By then the party had thinned considerably, but I found Kevin Michael Richardson, the talent who voices Cleveland Jr. on the Family Guy spinoff, and chatted with him for a little bit, but I seriously kicked myself later when I realized he had also played Darnell on The Cleaner. Unfortunately I didn’t figure that out in time to ask him about his departure this season. I’m telling you, there’s something about putting stars in a simulated setting that makes it so hard to recognize them sometimes. |
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At that point the party really was done, and in all honestly for the first time all tour, I was more than ready to call it an early night. Well, if you consider 11 p.m. early, I guess. Such is the tough life of a TV critic. I know you're all feeling just awful for me right now, too.
Ten days down, two more to go.
Up next: Visiting The Office and a Warner Bros. party to “die” for.
Amber is currently reporting live from the TV Critics Press Tour in L.A. Check out complete coverage here. amber@tvguide.ca
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