michael.peck

Poppy Montgomery's Blonde Ambition

Just about every actress fantasizes about playing screen legend Marilyn Monroe, and for Poppy Montgomery, that dream came true  until she saw herself in a mirror. "I felt like a drag queen," Montgomery, who plays the American icon in CBS's upcoming four-hour miniseries, Blonde, said at the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, Calif. "I was like, 'Oh, my God, this is awful.'" CBS's Blonde  which is slated to air during May sweeps  is sure to prompt as much discussion as the Joyce Carol Oates fictional Monroe biography on which it's based. Also starring Ann-Margret, Home Improvement's Patricia Richardson, Kirstie Alley and Patrick Dempsey, the story follows young Norma Jean Baker from her difficult childhood to the mega-stardom and drug addiction that ultimately dragged her down. However, it's anyone's guess whether Montgomery herself will have worked up the nerve

Mon, Jan 15, 2001

CSI Star's Dry Spell

Starring roles in movies like To Live and Die in L.A. and Manhunter plus an array of TV and theatrical work may have briefly grabbed the attention of some of William Petersen's Chicago-area relatives, but it wasn't until CBS's CSI: Crime Scene Investigation took to the air that the actor's extended family really began to follow his career. But as Petersen explains, he's been hard-pressed to answer his clan's most frequently asked CSI-related question: "'Are you going to have sex?'" The actor, whose forensics officer Gil Grissom spends more time in the lab than between the sheets on the Golden Globe-nominated drama, told laughing attendees of the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, Calif., "I don't know. He is a nerd. I don't know if nerds have sex or not." Their lusty

Fri, Jan 12, 2001

New Survivors: Bigger, Badder, Better Looking

Those tuning into CBS's Survivor: The Australian Outback after Super Bowl XXXV on Jan. 28 are sure to notice many of the new crew are, um, a little easier on the eyes. But as executive producer Mark Burnett and host Jeff Probst told attendees of the Television Critics Association's press tour in Pasadena, Calif., looks can kill. In fact, the latest batch of contestants to vie for the $1 million prize would give the scheming champ from Palau Tiga more than a run for his money. "Where the first group were virgins, everybody here came to play," Burnett said of the new 16, who had the benefit of watching the first game and seeing which strategies paid off. "Richard Hatch would get eaten alive by this group." Just how tough are they? To hear the show creator tell it, most are in it for the blood, not the money ? and the aim in choosing them was to find people who'd play the game even if it wasn't on TV. Still, both Burnett and Probst were stunn

Thu, Jan 11, 2001

Oh, Brother  Not Again

Despite soft ratings and possibly the worst reviews in television history, last summer's reality experiment, Big Brother, wasn't the big letdown the media portrayed it to be, insists CBS. In fact, network execs are considering a second go-round of the house-arrest game  especially since it doesn't have to do Survivor numbers to turn a profit. "I'm not going to accept that Big Brother didn't do so well," CBS honcho Leslie Moonves said at the Television Critics Association Press Tour in Pasadena, Calif. "Big Brother did just fine and, in fact, improved our summer ratings and our summer demographics. And, frankly, the last episode of Big Brother beat the Olympics, so by any stretch of the imagination, that's doing well." Fair enough, if you're just crunching the numbers, but isn't there room for improvement? "I don't think it was cast very well, to tell you the truth," Moonves conceded. "I think when you compare the cast of

Thu, Jan 11, 2001

Nikki Cox Figures It Out

The curvaceous Nikki Cox freely admits that the way she fills her clothes often overshadows her acting ability, but she's pragmatic enough to be grateful for the good genes. "I'm not oblivious to the fact that quite often that's what's gotten me in the door," the actress, who headlines the upcoming WB comedy, Nikki, noted at the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, CA. "You bring what you do to the table and hopefully people get past it. It's just a goofy figure, you know, and it doesn't last. So hopefully I bring something more to the game." That refreshing lack of ego was evident across the panel, and no more so than when co-star Nick von Esmarch, who plays Cox's aspiring wrestler husband, was asked if being on network TV might overinflate his ego. "All my friends were worried that I might get a big head and think I'm all great," said the actor, who was selling video games before landing this role. "But when you're on a lower level.

Fri, Jul 28, 2000

Comic Says Yes to Comeback

When NBC pulled stand-up comic Mike O'Malley out of obscurity and gave him his own show, many thought him the luckiest man alive. Of course, that changed when the sitcom ? appropriately titled, The Mike O'Malley Show ? was quickly axed and the comedian recorded one of the fastest celebrity nosedives in history. But did the funnyman let the show's failure get him down? You bet he did! "I don't think I had any idea how much it would hurt when it went so spectacularly wrong [and was] canceled after two episodes," O'Malley, who appears in CBS's upcoming sitcom Yes, Dear (Mondays, 8:30 pm/ET), told attendees of the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, CA. "I think that it may not have hurt so much had my name not been on the show. Because then whenever it was written about or mentioned in the same breath as other shows that were canceled, you feel this wince of, 'Oh, that's my name again associated with this flop.'&nbsp;" For her part,

Wed, Jul 26, 2000

Muniz Is Mr. Popular

He may only have one season under his belt as the star of Fox's Malcolm in the Middle, but already young Frankie Muniz is learning about one of fame's most enduring conundrums: separating your real friends from your fake ones. "I went back [home] to New Jersey and saw them for pretty much the first time since the show was on, and it was so wild," Muniz told reporters at the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, CA. "It was like I didn't even know some of them. Because a lot of kids that never used to hang out with me used me as a show-and-tell. They'd bring me over to their friend's house [and go], 'Look, look who's my friend!' So it was sort of weird." The actor stressed, however, that his fair-weather pals "were really cool. They didn't even really make a big deal out of it. They like me because I'm Frankie, not because I'm Malcolm." And just in case anyone's worried about the effects of his early success spoiling him, Muniz insisted tha

Tue, Jul 25, 2000

Sex and the Mature Woman

Judging Amy's Tyne Daly is no fresh-faced WB babe ? and that suits her just fine. Fact is, she rather enjoys playing Maxine Gray, mother to the titular Amy (Amy Brenneman) on the hit CBS drama, since she's portraying a mature woman who's independent and ? gasp!  still has an active sex life. "Sex after 60 seems to be quite interesting to people," the actress told reporters at the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, CA. "It's certainly interesting to me. I also am interested in a woman at any stage of the game being a whole unto herself and not having to rely on a man's arm and other parts of his anatomy to validate her." The former Cagney & Lacey star, who has amassed five Emmys during her career, was just nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her Amy role. But don't be fooled by Daly's enviable statue collection: She never gets tired of the attention. "No, no, because wh

Tue, Jul 25, 2000

The Truth Behind the X-Files Feud

X-Files star David Duchovny may have sufficiently repaired his post-lawsuit relationship with series creator Chris Carter (he agreed to return for 11 episodes next season), but to Carter, the thinking behind the suit remains an X-file of its own. "I still [have] yet to understand, truly, what it is I was accused of doing and have it articulated to me in any kind of understandable way," Carter told reporters at the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, CA. "There's still a little bit of a mystery to me, but lawsuits are mysterious and I'm happy just to move on and try to do the good work that we've done together." (For the record, Duchovny's suit essentially accused Carter and Fox of cutting a sweetheart deal to sell X-Files rerun rights to sister network FX for a lower-than-market-value price, thus cheating Duchovny out of his share of a potentially higher-priced deal with someone else.) Carter fielded ? and artfully dodged ? man

Mon, Jul 24, 2000

Titus Slams Titus

Christopher Titus has this message for those few critics who panned his self-titled Fox comedy: You failed to mention several obvious weak points. "Has anyone else noticed that we, basically, blatantly ripped off the HBO series Oz with our structure? Anybody?" he asked reporters at the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, CA. "I mean, except we're a lot funnier and no prison rape scenes... yet. [Also], we have opening titles that look like they were thrown together in a garage in Van Nuys in about four hours. They were, except it took two hours." Titus can afford to sit back and crack wise since his dark-horse sitcom is a certified smash. In fact, the comic was in such a good mood at the press tour that he prepared a list of responses skewering the by-the-book answers writers usually hear from stars. "Hey, man, you know what? Myself, the cast and the crew ? we're really just like a family... that only sees each other at work... where we're be

Mon, Jul 24, 2000

Selleck Talks Politics

Let's get one thing straight: If you see Tom Selleck's name on a ticket, it'll be for a movie and not a campaign. The actor may play a presidential hopeful in TNT's upcoming Running Mates and he may not hide the kind of views that got him ambushed by Rosie O'Donnell, but that's where his political involvement ends. "I'm interested in politics. I find it fascinating and this subject comes up every so often, which is flattering," the actor said at the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, CA, when asked if he'd ever want to run for office. "But my answer [is] always, I'm already a public figure. I know what that's like. Why would I want to turn it up a couple of notches? That's what we do to our candidates." What's surprising is that Selleck, who co-stars with Faye Dunaway, Nancy Travis, Laura Linney and Teri Hatcher and plays a Democratic candidate in the cable movie, takes issue with those who portray him

Mon, Jul 17, 2000

Gil Bellows Shapes Up

For former Ally McBeal star Gil Bellows, landing the role of a former Notre Dame quarterback drafted to play for the Buffalo Bills in TNT's upcoming Second String was easy. Of course, looking the part was another matter. "I recently became a father, so the level of my athleticism was quite minimal," the actor admitted at the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, CA. "In fact, I was heartily enjoying eating ? and just laying around the house and playing with my daughter... enjoying the spoils of fatherhood and celebrating with my wife the fact that we had a child. I was lazy and quite out of shape. So it was kind of a transformation for me." As if that wasn't tough enough, Bellows also had to worry about the professional players sharing the field with him forgetting to pull their punches. Fortunately, the cast made sure the big boys didn't feel the need. "I think that they knew they could have put a lot of punishment on us if they wanted

Mon, Jul 17, 2000

Sparks Fly on Farscape

Fans of Sci Fi Channel's Farscape take note: It looks like flyboy John Crichton (Ben Browder) and Peacekeeper Aeryn Sun (Claudia Black) might finally get their romance off the ground. "They'll get together," confirmed executive producer David Kemper at the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, CA. But some sexual tension is expected to remain as sparks start flying in the upcoming story arc "Look at the Princess," three episodes that begin airing July 21 (9 pm/ET). Browder likes the fact that his character and Black's never quite get there. "The show itself is not about Crichton and Aeryn and their relationship," he said. "That's one particular aspect of the show. It's an aspect that I love. I think it's fantastic and you could throw me in a room with Claudia any day and I would be happy to act with her." Also on hand at TCA was Farscape's Virginia Hey, who told reporters she's so committed to her role as alien

Fri, Jul 14, 2000

Andy Garcia Slams Castro

Actor Andy Garcia has a message for Americans who agree with the recent decision to send Elian Gonzalez back to his native Cuba with his father: Before you judge, know your facts. "The propaganda arm of the Cuban government has made a great impact on what they would like people to perceive as going on in Cuba," the actor told attendees of the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, CA. "For me, it's important to shed a more accurate light on what's going on down there because there is a portion of American society that's not quite aware, [that's] been spoonfed through the propaganda machinery the wrong situation and images." Garcia's best illustration is jazz musician Arturo Sandoval, whom Garcia portrays in HBO's For Love or Country (due in November). For Sandoval, who made a daring escape from the country himself, the Gonzalez case is simply a tragedy. And anyone that doesn't think so should try living there. "Nobody wants th

Thu, Jul 13, 2000

Abe Vigoda Sweats It Out

While most actors knock themselves out to look their best for auditions, TV legend Abe Vigoda looked awful when he auditioned for the part of hangdog detective Phil Fish on the classic sitcom Barney Miller. "I was jogging five miles and I was very tired," the actor recalled at the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, CA. "I had my shorts, I was perspired, and my agent came running up to me and he said, 'Abe, a Danny Arnold wants to see you. They're doing a pilot entitled Barney Miller and they'd like you to immediately go up there.' And I said, 'But I'm not dressed for it. I have to take a shower.' And he says, 'No. Immediately.'&nbsp;" I went to Studio City, there was Mr. Arnold.... He looked at me and he said, 'You look tired.' So I said, 'I am tired. I've been jogging five miles.' And he said, 'You know, you look like you have hemorrhoids.' And I said, 'What are you, a doctor or a producer?' And just like that, he said, 'You'

Wed, Jul 12, 2000

Freaks Star Bounces Back

In a town where even the worst role gets the response, "Hey, at least you're working," Freaks and Geeks star Linda Cardellini might add, "Hey, at least I'm canceled." It seems her show, despite its lackluster ratings and bet-you-can't-find-it-now scheduling, is helping her just the same. "A lot of people who listen to the critics and a lot of people who have a chance to see a lot of television and all the things that are out there really respect our show," the actress told assembled reporters at the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, CA. "I'd been working for a little bit of time before this and really hadn't been noticed. Suddenly now, people are taking notice and it's been really wonderful for my career." More people will take notice now that, as TV Guide Online reported, Fox Family has picked up multiyear rights to the 18 Freaks episodes originally produced for NBC (three of which were never aired). Fox Family would love to produc