SueTube – Let’s talk TV with critic Susan Young

Going from Lucius Malfoy in the “Harry Potter” flicks to the vicious mobster Michael Caffee in the new Showtime series Brotherhood wasn’t much of a stretch for actor Jason Isaacs.

He told critics gathered at the winter press tour in Pasadena that he isn’t often recognized on the streets of Providence, R.I., where the series is shot.

” (Only) if I walk around with a velvet cape and a walking cane and long blond hair, generally — and a
small blue elf,” teased Isaacs

” That owl you always had in your trailer didn’t help matters,” joked co-star Ethan Embry

” What happens is kids don’t recognize me, the parents recognize me. They go, ‘Look, it’s Lucius Malfoy,’ ” Isaacs said. “And the kids look at the parents like they’re insane because what would Lucius Malfoy be doing shopping in a Providence shopping mall?”

The HBO series “Carnivale” may be cancelled, but it’s not forgotten by its loyal fans.

Those fans want to know what another season would have looked like.

And so would “Carnivale” producer Scott Winant, who has moved on to Showtime’s “Huff.”

“If we could have gotten another season, the battle would have started between the good, (Ben Hawkins, played by Nick Stahl) and the evil (Sofie, played by Clea DuVall), says Winant. “I think we were going to have a great season. I still miss that series.”

As do we all.

Hank Azaria arrived from New York to chat with critics gathered at the winter press tour about his Showtime series “Huff.”

He’s currently starring on Broadway in “Spamalot” as Sir Lancelot, which garnered Azaria a Tony nomination for Best Actor in a Musical.

But would he want to continue that role when the show opens in Las Vegas?

“When it goes to Vegas, it will be shortened and turned into more than a revue than a play, and that doesn’t interest me as much,” Azaria says.

So he wouldn’t consider it?

“I didn’t say that,” smiled Azaria. “A month in Vegas? And if they backed that money truck up to my door, it would be hard to say no.”

In 1968, respected newsman Walter Cronkite said it was time to get out of Vietnam. Then President Lyndon Johnson responded that if he had lost Cronkite, then he had lost the nation.

So what will George Bush say about 89-year-old Cronkite proclaiming it

Rosie O’Donnell isn’t making any snap judgements about the state of Utah, despite the fact that a prominent theater owner pulled the movie “Brokeback Mountain,” about a love affair between two cowboys, from his theaters.

O’Donnell, who was in Pasadena talking to TV critics about her new HBO series “All Aboard! Rosie’s Family Cruise” about the first gay and lesbian family cruise line, said she’s going to Utah for the upcoming Sundance Film Festival.

She was asked if the conservative nature of Utah makes the openly gay O’Donnell feel strange going there.

“Not really,” O’Donnell says. “I mean, the Osmonds are from there. That’s enough for me to like it.”

Former “Nightline” host Ted Koppel fielded calls from all over the world from organizations trying to hire him.

Koppel will be working on “A Conversation with Ted Koppel and Tom Bettag” for the Discovery Channel. But he passed on an offer from Al Jazeera.

One critic at the winter press tour grabbed on to the story about Koppel talking to the Middle Eastern news organization, asking Koppel if he was afraid that could be used for propaganda purposes.

“Oh come on. I mean, I routinely meet with some of the nastiest people in the world,” Koppel said. Followed quickly by Bettag’s “Some of them are in this room.”

That obsessive compulsive detective Adrian Monk won’t be leaving the tube any time soon.

USA networks announced the series has been picked up for another two seasons. Not only does the show score on the cable network, but USA says it’s one of the top shows dowloaded from the NBC iTunes Store. So USA has created two mini episodes exclusively for the USA Web site.

“Monk” counts the obsessive compulsive disorder community among its many fans.

So, does “Monk” star Tony Shalhoub receive a lot of fan mail from the O.C.D. community?

It’s actually just one guy writing a letter over and over and over,” Shaloub jokes

Can we get a rimshot?

You just knew someone had to ask her.

In light of the recent troubles in an already turbulent life, Shirley Jones, who played Danny Bonaducci’s mom in “The Partridge Family,” was asked if Danny was a train wreck she could see coming.

“He was always a rebellious little kid and he had a tough home life too, so that didn’t help at all. We all became mothers and fathers to him. He would come to my house on the weekends and play with my kids. We all sort of took care of him. So I’m very sad to see what’s happened to Danny right now, because I feel very motherly towards him.

For those wondering what Jones is up to these days, she’ll be starring in the upcoming Hallmark Channel movie “Hidden Places.”

“Everybody Loves Raymond” star Doris Roberts, who is starring in a new movie “Our House” for the Hallmark Channel, told TV critics gathered in Pasadena at the winter press tour that there are five stages of an actor’s career.

“The first one is: Who is Doris Roberts? The second one is “Get me Doris Roberts.” The third is “Get me a young Doris Roberts.” The fourth is “Get me an old Doris Roberts.” And the fifth is “Who is Doris Roberts?”

Veteran actorRichard Chamberlain has been dubbed the “king of the miniseries.” Chamberlain met with television critics in Pasadena to promote his new movie “Blackbeard,” which airs this year on The Hallmark Channel.

So what role is he best remembered for?

If men are talking, it’s probably ‘Shogun.’ And if women are talking, it’s ‘The Thorn Birds.’ And if they are very, very old, it’s ‘Dr. Kildare.’