SueTube – Let’s talk TV with critic Susan Young

There’s always the odd question popping up during the twice-yearly Television Critics Association Press tour in Los Angeles.

Even so, few expected someone to ask actress Shelley Conn what it was like to make out with Anna Torv, best known to American audiences as FBI agent Olivia Dunham on the Fox show “Fringe.”

Shelley’s here promoting her BBC America series “Mistresses,” a sizzling drama about four friends who met in college and whose lives have taken dramatic turns. But all have one thing in common: infidelity.

Jessica (Shelley) is a beautiful bi-sexual woman who engages in a hot romance with the character of Alex (Anna). After a bit of sophisticated stuttering, Shelley sort of went on about being professional and all that sort of stuff.

But she felt Anna certainly stepped up as an actress. And she plans on getting in touch with Anna while she’s here in L.A.

“Women watch the show, but men buy the DVD’s,” says creator SJ Clarkson. “I suspect they are lookng for the extras, but there aren’t any.”

The show premieres at 8 p.m. Friday Feb. 20 on BBC America.

Critics packed the small meeting room, ready to take a first hand peek at Patrick Swayze who is starring in the A&E series “The Beast,” premiering Thursday.
The actor has gone public with his battle with pancreatic cancer, a disease that offers a limited prognosis.
But minutes after the session began, A&E announced he had checked himself into the hospital with pneumonia. The producers said they think it’s just a bump (“We’ve had mornings like this before,” says a producer. “We follow his lead. We shoot when he’s ready to work.”).
All 13 episodes were already shot with Swayze.
The pilot was shot before the network discovered he had cancer, but was picked up after the news was released.
“He’s been an inspiraton for me. I can’t help by to respect him,” says co-star Travis Fimmel. “He’s an inspiration for me. He makes the little things seem so unimportant.”
He added that “the sickest thing about him is his jokes.”
The series is a cop show with Swayze playing tough guy Barker who may or may not have gone rogue. The pilot was shot around Christmas and then the network picked it up. Which was about the same time when Swayze checked into Stanford Medical.
The decision went around to stay with Swayze, who is giving the performance of his career in this meaty drama.
An A&E rep says that they took the added financial risk to work with Swayze and that another actor was never considered for the role. Which begs the question – what happens in the future with Swayze apparently .
A&E will run 13 episodes with Swayze in the lead. If they get picked up for a second season, they intend to continue with Swayze depending on his health.

“You guys look so weird.”
Thanks Amy. Amy’s at the January gathering of TV writers in L.A. to chat about her latest project, “Make ’em Laugh: The Funny Business of America” that airs on Jan. 14 on PBS. She’s being asked about hosting a late night show.
She says nobody asked. Hard to believe, but hey, if she says so, I believe her. Now someone wants her take on the future of comedy.
“I don’t think about (comedy), I don’t look at the big picture. Guess I’m the wrong person to ask,” Amy says. “Where do you think comedy is going?”
We think it’s going pretty well with Amy up on stage, making crusty critics giggle. She says she finally got a computer about four years ago because she needed help with her beloved rabbit and nothing was open.
“Now I can go to iChat and hold my rabbit up and say, ‘See this scab? What does it mean?’ ” Sedaris says. “I’m getting there. I’m getting there.”
She says she knows about the Web site amysedarisrocks, but she doesn’t go it because “what if I see something and get upset?”
But she doesn’t think the woman who does the site, Katie, would write anything bad about her.
“She likes me so she’s probably writing nice things,” Amy says. “But I still don’t go on the site and read things. If I wanted to read things about me, I’d go in a bathroom stall.”
Oh Amy, you make me laugh so.