Say hello to new, returning fall shows

by Aaron Barnhart

McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)

23 July 2008

How I Met Your Mother

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Television critics come to L.A. every summer to get acquainted with the stars and staff of the new fall shows. This year, though, with the TV industry still playing catch-up after the writers’ strike, we spent a lot of summer press tour being reacquainted with old favorites.

“How I Met Your Mother,” for instance, was a hot topic at the CBS party at a trendy Sunset Boulevard club. Even though young viewers have embraced “HIMYM” as a romantic comedy told from their point of view, CBS, for the second year in a row, dragged its feet before renewing it for next season.

But not without some changes. Co-executive producer Carter Bays was telling anyone with a tape recorder that next season, the show would become “more accessible to viewers who’ve never seen the show.” It’s a half-hour comedy - how do you make that “more accessible? Cut it down to 15 minutes?

No, Bays said. He and co-producer Craig Thomas have had “fun writing a soap opera for the past three years,” but they will wrap that up next season and begin writing episodes that are self-contained - as on most sitcoms - so newcomers to the show don’t feel like they missed out on something.

I chatted with Dennis Haysbert, star of the CBS show “The Unit,” which got just 10 episodes made last season before the strike shut it down. Haysbert said this season will start out with a bang, as terrorists attempt to cut the head off the government, and everyone on the show has to go into “deep cover,” women included.

I said that sounded a little “24"-inspired, and Haysbert replied, “ ‘24’ would be lucky to have ‘The Unit.’”

Drew Carey was also holding court, and, not surprisingly, he was fielding questions about changes at “The Price Is Right,” which he took over hosting from Bob Barker. Roger Dobkowitz, a producer on the show since its inception in 1972, was fired earlier this month. Carey claimed to be as in the dark as anyone on matters behind the scenes at TV’s longest-running game show.

“I’m just the host,” he said. “I don’t sit in those meetings.”

As for those rumors that a huge shakeup is in store on the show (what, no more “Plinko”?), Carey said he hadn’t heard anything of the sort. There will be a few changes in the upcoming season, he said, “but they make changes every year.”

When ABC was making the rounds at press tour, it brought a familiar show along: “Scrubs,” the fast-paced doctor comedy that had spent the previous seven seasons on NBC. From what I can tell, nothing’s changing there except the network.

I asked John McGinley, who plays the maniacal Dr. Cox on the show, if he ever felt boxed in as actor playing the same purple-faced lunatic year after year.

“Would I play Cox for the next 20 years? Yes,” McGinley said. “I’ve gotten to do other movies, and the scripts I’m sent don’t call for a Cox character.”

McGinley, who landed a part in “Platoon,” spent the next decade and a half appearing in low-rent TV movies and doing guest roles on shows before becoming Cox.

The impact of “Scrubs"on his career? It “allowed me to turn things down,” he said.

Also showing up at press tour was “Saturday Night Live” cast member Jason Sudeikis, fresh off a week of bumming around his parents’ Overland Park house. Sudeikis was in Kansas City for a sneak preview of the new film “The Rocker,” in which he co-stars, and to answer questions from the standing-room crowd.

With his wife, Kay Cannon, back in New York working on “30 Rock” (she’s a writer), and the season premiere of “SNL” two months away, Sudeikis could take it easy and catch up on his barbecue.

One night, he said, he performed at a KPMG corporate function, “then I jumped into a car with grade school and high school friends to see Foo Fighters at Kemper Arena. I haven’t been at Kemper Arena since, like, the Big Eight tournament!”

Press tour ended Tuesday, too late for newspaper deadlines, as we toured the sets of several TV shows, including the upcoming Fox drama “Dollhouse.” Things are super-secret around there; I’m told that I can look but I can’t take pictures, not even with my phone.

When I spoke with creator Joss Whedon the week before, he said he’d shot a pilot episode, but since Fox wasn’t bringing the show on until midseason, he had time to refine his concept before moving forward with more episodes.

“It’s a very simple premise that’s very complicated to pull off,” Whedon said. “I’ve spent a few months with the writers now trying to make it simple for you guys!”

Hey, I’ll take all the help I can get.