SueTube – Let’s talk TV with critic Susan Young

Evangeline Lilly, our dear Kate on “Lost,” beat a hasty exit after the “Lost” panel on Sunday and never made it to the ABC party.

Turns out she was skittish about being asked about the fire that claimed her home in Hawaii and a subsequent interview in which she said that she it might be a sign that she needs to change her life. And that change would include leaving the show.

No, we don’t know if that’s true. What we do know is that Evangeline has always been gracious and friendly with the press, so I hope that no one starts writing about any diva behavior.

Josh Holloway (Sawyer) basked in the glow of affection during the ABC party on Sunday. He chatted with star-struck young actors from ABC Family and Disney Shows and posed for pictures with the cast of Disney Channel’s “Suite Life of Zack & Cody.”

But while we were talking, a security guard walks up and asks Josh to give him his name tag.

“I think I need this to get into the party,” Josh tells the guard.

“No, i’m the one checking badges and I’ll let you in,” says the guard.

So Josh handed him the badge and we exchange a look, with a mention about eBay, Josh shrugs and says, “Well, I guess.”

After mentioning it to an ABC exec, he quickly tracked down the “guard” who turned out to be someone who dressed like a guard, complete with headset. He was quickly removed from the property.

Josh says he’s grateful to the series, because he knows how close he came to getting the boot.

“He was the lowest-tested actor, and people just hated him,” says executive producer Damon Lindelof. “But then we did the flashback episode and showed him as this little boy cowering under a bed and suddenly everyone loved him.”

Strangest note from a network censor?

“Desperate Housewives’’ creator/producer Marc Cherry says it came in the pilot episode of his show and the scene where Eva Longoria is basking in the afterglow with her 17-year-old gardener.

“ The censor looked and said, “Does she have to smoke?’ ‘’ Cherry says. “And I went, “So you’re good with the statutory rape thing?” So I thought that was odd.’’

In the Jennifer Saunders “AB Fab’’) series “Clatterford,” which will air on BBC America, there’s a line in which a socialite remarks about a party at “Madonna and Ritchie’s place’’ that was fantastic until Sting started playing the lute.

We can relate.

At the PBS party Saturday night, Sting performed in front of about 100 critics in a small room. Sting’s fascination with Elizabethan songwriter John Dowland has escalated into a record album and a special to be aired on PBS’ “Great Performances.’’

I’m good for about 15 minutes of lute music, even if it is Sting playing less than 20 feet in front of me. He played for an hour. But at least he topped it off with three rockin’ standards: Robert Johnson’s smoking “Hellhound on My Trail,’’ his lyrical “Fields of Gold’’ and the classic “Message in a Bottle.’’

In a post-concert interview, he says that he wants to do something to celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Police, although he isn’t quite sure what that might be. “We started 30 years ago, so it would be nice to do something to celebrate,’’ Sting says. “We don’t quite know what, but we’re talking about it.’’

And he fielded the question about his odd moniker.

“I’d always had nicknames, but I was in a band, and the band nickname was Sting because it suited my personality. It’s a silly name. You’ll get used to it,’’ Sting quipped. “ It’s cryptic and it’s very simple to sign, not like Engelbert Humperdinck.’’

“Grey’s Anatomy’’ producer Shonda Rhimes says she never thought about Burke (Isaiah Washington) and Cristina (Sandra Oh) getting together until she began observing the chemistry between the two actors on the set.

“I could see there was something special between them, and it inspired me to write more,’’ Rhimes says.

What she may or may not know is that was exactly what Washington and Oh had worked so hard to accomplish.

“Look, we went into this series seeing Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) and Derek (Patrick Dempsey) getting all the good screen time, and we said, `If we don’t do something soon, we’re going to fade into the background,’ ” Washington says. “So we conciously began playing around on the set, pushing the chemistry and it was noticed, as we knew it would be.’’

Ok, the first thing we should all keep in mind is that “Lost” isn’t our life, it’s a TV show.

And of course, if we were on that freakin’ island and had the chance to talk to The Others, we’d be asking much better questions than Jack, Sawyer and Kate.

Any Lostie can tell you that it gets frustrating when Jack has the opportunity to ask The Others a question and he ends up just wasting the opportunity.

“We’d be asking much better questions too,’’ executive producer Damon Lindelof says. “Unfortunately, if Jack asked the questions we wanted him to, The Others would answer none of them. which probably would not be that interesting to watch.’’
As Jack says in the last episode of this season, “After all you’ve put me through, I deserve some answers.’’ That’s the same sentiment many of the fans have as well.

Lindelof says they understand the frustration of fans and critics that the characters don’t talk more amongst themselves about the mystery of the island.

“The reality is, we’ve written those scenes and in some cases we even shoot those scenes. And whether you take our word for it or not, we think they don’t work; they’re incredibly boring, ‘’ Lindelof says. “If, for example, everybody got together and
basically Sayid said, “Well, I’ll tell you, I found this wire and I followed this wire,” and then somebody else said, “Wait a minute. That’s an interesting” — and they started
to put it together, it would make for very uninvolving television.’’

“Lost’’ will have a beginning, a middle and an end, however. After the session, Lindelof spoke frankly about the future of the series, which he says may end around the 100th episode.

“I don’t want it to become like `The X-Files,’ which ended two years after it should have. Once Scully and Mulder were gone, the show should have been gone,’’ Lindelof says. `And we don’t want to be like `The O.C.’ where we say that, oh, we decided this is our last season when you’ve already started the season. Dude, you didn’t quit, you were canceled. We want to announce it in advance and give the fans a payoff.’’

It’s probably because I was sitting next to our fashion writer Dino-Ray Ramos, who came down to Pasadena this weekend to check out the TV fashion scene, but suddenly all I about a could see was fashion trends.

During the sobering session on HBO films hard-hitting “Life Support” mother dealing with HIV, my eyes couldn’t veer away from the show’s producer Jamie Foxx (Dreamgirls).

He was wearing a green suit with what looked like a green sweater vest and green boots. After the session, he allowed a quick fondling of the material for reporting sake.

Turned out the suit was velvet and the sweater was actually a silk-like shirt. And we think he agreed that it was from London’s master tailor Ozwald Boateng, but after the inspection, he was jammed with people wanted to know if he was going to the Golden Globes.

“I think we’re going to do well there,” Foxx says.

As for Queen Latifah, you just can’t believe how magnificent she looks until you get right next to her. Towering at close to six feet in heels, she wore a fabulous black dress.
In response to a movement towards larger models, Latifah says it’s about time.

“I don’t have anything against skinny girls, but we come in all shapes and sizes and we need something nice to wear,” Latifah says. “I’m not saying they have to design only larger sizes, but they need to start facing the reality of what real women look like.”

Stunning Jaclyn Smith, former “Charlie’s Angels” star and now host of the upcoming Bravo series “Shear Genius” is returning to her roots.

The former Breck girl will be the lead judges on the reality competition series centering on the competitive, but most wacky, world of hairstyling. Production starts shortly and the show will air this spring.

Smith, 61, looked fabulous in a vintage Chanel jacket and jeans. When we mentioned a designer who said that a good pair of jeans costs about $170, Smith looked shocked.

“That’s ridiculous,” Smith says. “These are my jeans from my Kmart line and they cost a fraction of that and are as stylish as any jeans.”

Of course, topping them off with Chanel doesn’t hurt either.

And of course, we had to ask for an update on her pal Farrah Fawcett, who is recovering from cancer treatment.

“I just talked to her day before yesterday and she’s doing just great,” Smith says. “She really sounds good and I think she’s going to get through this just fine.”

Bay Area native Alexandra Pelosi did a whirlwind trip from New York to Pasadena to meet with TV critics about her documentary on evangelical Christians, “Friends of God,” which debuts on Jan. 25 on HBO.

“Am I a bad mother?” Pelosi asks after she finished her session, clearly conflicted about leaving her 8-week old baby at home. “This is the first time I’ve ever left him.”

We don’t really think he’ll remember.

Pelosi’s the daughter of California Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, who became the first woman Speaker of the House, and therefore second second in line to be President of the United States if anything happens to President Bush and Vice President Cheney.

It’s the closest any woman has ever come to the office of president of the United States.

Pelosi says the spotlight has clearly been on her mom, so she decided to do something nice for her dad and named her son Paul after him.

“He deserved a little recognition too,” Pelosi, who looks way too trim for a woman who recently gave birth, says.

In her session earlier, Pelosi told TV writers that it may be hard to believe, but when she gets together with her family they don’t end up talking politics or documentaries.

It’s all baby talk these days.

As dear Heidi Klum would say, in fashion one day you are in and the next, you’re out!

Over at Bravo, that translates to “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy’’ getting the boot, while fashion guru Tim “Make it Work’’ Gunn from “Project Runway’’ getting his own series.

“Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style” chronicles chronicle one person’s fashion dilemmas and introduce the answer to all their troubles – our Mr. Gunn. Several deserving folks will get the makeover of a lifetime.

“I’m practically delirious that Bravo has given me this incredible opportunity and together, we vow to redefine ‘makeovers’,” said Gunn. “This series aims to be one-part education with two-parts fun, and you’ll see me being a fashion therapist, not a svengali.”

Using the book Tim Gunn: A Guide to Quality, Taste & Style by Tim Gunn and Kate Moloney as a manual, each episode will capture Gunn using his unmatched counseling skills in transforming the fashion weary into polished and dapper-looking individuals.

Tim’s quest to help the world understand his philosophy of “quality, taste and style” will cover many areas in the “Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style” series such as, choosing an appropriate style, finding the right fit, revamping closets, selecting fashion role models, proper grooming, carrying yourself well, selecting the right accessories and unexpected fashion challenges, such as shopping for vacations and special events.

“We are only going to take the questions related to the series `DanceLife’ “ says the misguided president of MTV Entertainment as he introduces Jennifer Lopez to the room full of TV critics gathered for the winter press tour.

Lopez showed up to garner some exposure for her new reality series, which premieres at 10:30 Monday (Jan. 15) on MTV. Of course, we wanted more from the recently reclusive Lopez.

Like, how has she successfully avoided the tabloid tango for the last couple of years?

“My life for me had become uncomfortable in the way it was affecting my personal life and the people in it, and so I decided that I needed to take a look at that and my own
responsibility in that,’’ Lopez says. And I realize there was a way to pull back from it in the way I lived. It was an adjustment and a compromise, but I found a way to do it.’’

And, she says, it wasn’t really that difficult to become a more private person with her husband, singer Marc Anthony.

“You don’t go out as much. You choose different places to go.’’ Lopez says. “You know, if you want to be in those magazines, you can. And if you don’t, you don’t have to be.’’

She says she decided to pull back a little, to go underground and work on some passion projects like her two new albums and her two new movies being released this year.

“This year, I’ll be out there a little bit more since I have that stuff coming out,’’ Lopez says.

She’s particularly proud of “DanceLife’’ because she started her career as a dancer. The eight-episode series follows the lives of six dancers tring to break into the world of professional dance.

So does she ever go dancing with her husband?

“You know, we don’t. We are homebodies. We love music, obviously, and it’s a huge part of our lives, and I love to dance,’’ Lopez says. “We are not big club people, you know, not anymore. I had my days. “

Lopez says it was hard starting out as a dancer, and the best advice she was ever given was from her mom who told her “Don’t ever let me catch you crying.’’

“I remember calling her on my very first job I had. I went to Europe for a revue show
about Broadway, and it went overseas. And I didn’t get a solo in the show, and I was devastated. And I was the only one who didn’t. And my mom was like, “Hey, you want
to be in that business? Don’t you ever call me crying again. Good luck. ‘ ”

Tough love, Lopez says.

After her session, Lopez took off leaving her gi-nourmous Ritz Carlton Tournament of Roses suite all alone. But not for long. It was time to have a little party, MTV and Comedy Central style. The “Drawn Together,’’ “Reno 911’’ and others, including a handful of critics, made themselves at home.

Turned out to be much more fun than the too-crowded MTV party downstairs that included entertainment by the Naked Trucker. He did have a sort of jock-strap type device attached, but the damage was already done by anyone gazing on his pasty bod.

Anyway, back to J. Lo’s place.

The suite has a spiral staircase leading up to several balconies, two bedrooms with huge marble bathtubs. Downstairs was a huge living area and in each room was a plasma set. But all that was left of J. Lo was the steamer used to get the wrinkles out of the empire-waist two-tone dress (gold top, brown bottom, touched off by bronze shoes) that she wore for the session.

She was only in the suite for about a half hour, but the non-home bodies were still partying well after midnight.