SueTube – Let’s talk TV with critic Susan Young

Where in the world was Matt Lauer?

Well, on Wednesday morning he and co-anchors Meredith Vieira, Ann Curry and feature reporter Al Roker took the stage during the TV critics press tour in Pasadena.

“I need to apologize at this point,” Vieira said barely before the first press question was uttered. “Because I can’t get over the fact that I kissed a monkey this morning on the `Today’ show. I initiated it, and, quite frankly, I can’t stop thinking about.”

Don’t worry, a reporter told her later during the panel discussion, we’ve all been there.

“I think that’s what makes this show so wonderful and why I enjoy it so much,” Vieira said. “Because it is a true combination of the silly and the serious.”

And you are about to get so much more of both.

An hour more to be exact.

“Today” pushes into yet another hour of programming come this fall.

“We are pleased to announce that we’re going to be doing a fourth hour,” said Steve Capus, president of NBC News. “We will be launching that in September.”

Vieira won’t be part of that hour, however, because of her contract with “Who Wants to Be A Millionaire.” Her contract with that show doesn’t allow her to compete against herself. “Millionaire” airs at 10 a.m., which would be the start of the fourth hour.

“We want there to be a partnership with our stations (to provide some local content),” Capus says. “I think you see that mix all throughout the three hours that exists now. And I think that mix is appropriate.”

If this trend of adding new hours continues, Lauer quips, it may come to the point where he’s starting out the morning programs and then handing the mic over to Brian Williams for the network evening news.

It’s the story that just won’t die.

Yes, Donald Trump is once again being asked about his feud with Rosie O’Donnell during a press conference for “The Apprentice.” Well, his show is tanking and even Trump apologized to NBC for pumping up ABC’s ratings for “The View.”

So the first reporter asked if the pissing match between Trump and Rosie has crossed the line.

“No,” declares Trump, who takes off on the subject like a derby winner dashing for the finish line.

Trump says all he did was give the reigning Miss USA a second chance after discovering she had a drinking problem, the rosie O’Donnell turned it into a personal smear campaign.

“I have no regrets for exposing her for the person she is. She’s a terrible, disgusting human being who is not very smart and has a lot of problems,” says Trump. “And it will blow up on her.”

Trump says he has watched her attack people over the years, including Kelly Ripa, and he thinks she’s a bully. Tough talk from a guy who has a show where he makes people who lose his challenges sleep in a tent city.

“I think (my image) has been helped (by the feud), ” Trump says. “I think people respect that I fought back. Rosie’s a slob.”

No, Donald. Tell us how you really feel. Better yet, maybe I should quit enabling him.

9 a.m. Morning after the Golden Globes. Yeah, the cast of “Ugly Betty’’ really want a group of critics showing up on the set when all they want to do is recover from a night of partying after picking up a win for their show and their star, America Ferrera.

At the entrance, there’s a omelet bar set up for the cast and crew, a little thank you for all the hard work they’ve done, compliments of star Vanessa Williams.

“I had that arranged weeks ago,’’ Williams says later, sitting at her oh-so-cool desk at Mode. Well, at least the set. “I wanted to let everyone know that whether we won or not, we all deserved it.’’

Let’s just mention at this point that the Golden Globe award, which is a major award in this town, looks like a participant’s trophy from a soccer tournament. The base is a heavy white-with-brown marble; with an odd little golden orb at the top looks like a deflated game ball.
When Ferrera came off the stage after her best actress in a comedy win, some obnoxious TV reporter first shunned her then slammed her during the telecast by asking her to comment on the fact that she wasn’t the producer’s first choice for the role.

Huh?

“I didn’t know what to say, because it just stunned me,’’ Ferrera says. “I don’t think that was true.’’

Ferrera is known for being able to turn even the most blasé insider to tears with her heartfelt speeches, and the Golden Globe acceptance speech was no exception.

“I knew I wanted to say something about the show and the character and I didn’t want it to sound contrived,’’ Ferrera says in the same endearing voice cadence of her character. “I didn’t write anything down. I knew that if I got a chance to go up there, I would know from my heart what I wanted to say.’’

Also on the ultra chic white set accented with hot orange was Berkeley’s Rebecca Romijn, who has a big part in tonight’s show (8 p.m. on ABC-7).

“It’s a Golden Globe winning show,’’ says Romijn of her new gig. “Now it’s up to me to ruin it.’’
Romijn’s the new regular cast member on the show, and she say she was going to a lot of meetings with a lot of networks, but this show was far and away her favorite.

“The tone of the show, which has that comedy element, was like my (canceled WB series) `Pepper Dennis,’ ‘’ Romijn says. “They pitched this idea to me, the part of which I can’t reveal yet, and I was sold. It’s nice to be on a team. It’s even nicer to be on a team that wins.’’

Romijn plays the mystery woman who has been hidden behind the bandages, plotting with Vanessa Williams’ character.

“I was watching the show just as a fan and thinking, this storyline is going nowhere. Let’s get on with the real stuff,’’ Romijn says. “Then I got the part and said, hmm, this is a very interesting character.’’

Romijn says she just finished a film with Sissy Spacek titled “Lake City,’’ where she plays a cop with no make-up and her famous blonde tresses dyed brown. She says she has no problem doing that, since she grew up in Berkeley in the days of Birkenstocks and baggy sweats.

“It’s not exactly the fashion capitol of the world,’’ Romijn says with her generous laugh. “I was very average in height until I was about 15 and it was so painful. I remember lying in bed and it just hurting so bad. I had scoliosis because my bones couldn’t keep up it. None of my clothes fit. I used to layer my clothes with long johns just to pad myself. I wore them under my jeans, under everything I wore. No one noticed.’’

Romijn gamely listened to various ideas about her character: That she’s actually the dead editor-in-chief Fay, that she’s someone who just had plastic surgery to LOOK like Fay…the ideas went on.

“Hmmm. Interesting theories,’’ she says, stroking her chin with a playful look on her face.

“You’ll just have to wait. My mom knows, my best friend knows. But I have another friend who calls me 10 times a day asking and I won’t tell her. I probably would if she didn’t care so much.’’
There’s going to be a lot of guest stars popping up this season, but everyone who is a “Project Runway’’ fan is excited to hear that fashion guru Tim Gunn will be one of them. Oh, make it work, Tim.

Joanna Kerns, who grew up in Lafayette and is best known as all-American mom on “Growing Pains’’ remembers a few growing pains of her own.

One day, she brought her young daughter Ashley to the set of “Growing Pains,’’ and a television reporter came over to talk to her.

“All of a sudden, I hear her telling the reporter `she’s mean. She’s horrible and she spanks me. I tell you, she’s no Maggie Seaver.’ ‘’ says Kerns, who was at a reception held for TV critics by the Directors Guild.

“Well, I didn’t want to be there,’’ explains her now-grown daughter, who came with Kerns to the reception. “That’s what kids do.’’

These days Kerns, who also lived in Santa Clara while her older sister and Olympic Gold Medalist Donna DeVarona was training for the 1964 Olympics, now spends most of her time directing series TV like “ER.’’

Last week, Courteney Cox said she was going to have her best friend Jennifer Aniston guest star on Cox’s Fx series “Dirt” about the sleazy world of tabloid journalism and today we have confirmation.

Jen — hey, if the tabs can call her Jen, can’t we? — plays a rival magazine editor on the season finale at 10 p.m. March 27. This marks the first time that Courteney and Jen have worked together since “Friends” went off the air in 2004 after being on NBC for a decade.

I think we can all agree that Jen knows a little something about the slimy side of tabloid journalism. It’s not easy working through any divorce, but most people don’t get slapped in the face with it every time they go grocery shopping or go to the airport.

Wait, what was I thinking? OK, at least when the multi-millionaire goes to the airport.

Although most critics have been less than kind to the new series, the viewers have been more welcoming. The series has been averaging 3 million viewers, far short of the “Friends” numbers, but more than respectable for a cable channel.

For those who haven’t seen the show, Courteney plays Lucy Spiller, the ruthless editor-in-chief of the tabloid DirtNow. She relies on friend since high school, Don Konkey (Ian Hart), a schizophrenic paparazzo, to get the money shot.

Like Courteney said in an earlier interview (please scroll down), even she can’t pass up looking at the pictures in the tabs.

FX airs four weekly telecasts of each episode – 10 and 11 p.m. Tuesday, 11 p.m. Friday and 10 p.m. Sunday. The total viewers for all four runs delivered 7.8 total viewers in its first week.

Everyone in the “Ugly Betty” cast showed up in some amazing fashions — and were told to make sure they knew the name of the designers.

So when Michael Urie, who looked fabulous in a hip jacket, pants and a buckle bigger than the any you’ll see at the rodeo, was asked what he was wearing, he knew right away.

Well, he knew because, as he showed me, he had a cheat sheet in his pocket.

“They told me, but I’ll never remember,” says Michael, who plays Vanessa Williams’ assistant in the show. “But I do remember the buckle is from Disney Couture.”

Disney couture?

Well, I’d tell you the names of the other designers, but like Michael, I couldn’t remember and didn’t get a cheat sheet.

On Tuesday, some members of the Television Critics Association will be visiting the “Ugly Betty” set. The cast, however, was a little miffed that they were the first stop on a day of set visits that includes “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,” “24,” and “NCIS.”

It’s also the morning after the Golden Globes, and as we know now, they won several awards including Best Comedy and Best Actress in a Comedy for America Ferrera.

We overheard someone say that they tried to switch with “Studio 60” because they weren’t even nominated for anything.

(Quick correction: Sarah Paulson was nominated for best supporting actress in a drama)

Low blow. But true. And no, “60” refused to budge. Guess they don’t respond to sweet talk.

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.’’