BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.
Cast shake-ups and additions are nothing new in prime-time television, but they have a tendency to affect programs in different genres in different ways.
For procedurals, cast changes are like putting on a new coat of paint so close in tone to the old color that some observers might not even notice. OK, so that's an exaggeration; viewers do notice when a new, beautiful assistant district attorney shows up on "Law & Order" to replace the previous beautiful assistant district attorney. But because procedurals of this sort are more plot-driven than they are character-based, cast changes are less likely to profoundly alter a show.
Ron Tom, ABCIn the next season of "Desperate Housewives," new neighbor Katherine Mayfair, played by Dana Delany, left, butts heads with Bree, portrayed by Marcia Cross.
Click photo for larger image.
'Haunting' due next month
"Don't Think About It" is a co-production of Universal Studios Home Entertainment, which will distribute the DVD, and The Hatchery, an independent family entertainment production company. The idea to film in Pittsburgh was first suggested by Carl Kurlander, one of the founders of the Steeltown Entertainment Project, an organization created to encourage more local film production and an investor in "Don't Think About It."
A screening of the movie for the cast and crew will be held at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 22 at the AMC Theater at Universal City Walk in Los Angeles. A Pittsburgh premiere is not currently scheduled.
-- Rob Owen, Post-Gazette TV editor
In character-based shows, cast changes can have a more dynamic effect. Think back to the departure of Bobby Ewing (Patrick Duffy) from "Dallas": Ratings plummeted.
It's unlikely the departure of Isaiah Washington from "Grey's Anatomy" will have the same impact this fall when "Grey's" has its season premiere Sept. 27, but producers are adding a new batch of interns, the TV equivalent of dangling shiny objects to distract the audience.
Sometimes the departure of one star can lead to the addition of someone else who might bring new viewers and reinvigorate a series. This fall on NBC's "Las Vegas" (season premiere Sept. 28), James Caan departs and Tom Selleck arrives.
Marc Cherry, executive producer of ABC's "Desperate Housewives" (season premiere Sept. 30), won't divulge whether there are any departures this fall (although it looked like Edie committed suicide in the season finale, I don't buy it), but he's happy to talk about the additions.
Susan (Teri Hatcher) will get new neighbors when a gay couple, played by Tuc Watkins and Kevin Rahm, move into the vacant Applewhite house. Though rumors spread that Cherry envisioned Brits David Beckham and Robbie Williams for the roles, that was never the plan, and the "Housewives" staff had a good laugh at the expense of publications that ran with that whopper.
But the bigger casting news involves an actress who was invited to be a series regular back in 2004 and turned it down: Dana Delany.
"Dana Delany came in and auditioned for Bree, and she gave a fantastic audition," Cherry said last month at an ABC party. "I offered her the part three times, and she turned it down three times."
Cherry said Marcia Cross, who eventually landed the role, was his second choice because she played Bree as oblivious.
"Her Bree didn't get the joke, and Dana's was a much more sly Bree, and that's the character I thought I wanted," Cherry said, noting the character was based largely on his mother. "My mother, though a very sweet homemaker, has a sly sense of humor, and that's how Dana performed it. She captured that quality.
"Marcia, who will be the first to tell you, 'I'm not funny, I never get the joke,' her Bree was kind of oblivious to her own Breeness. Interestingly enough, when we went forward with the show, it became a much funnier character than I envisioned."
Cherry said he heard later that Delany "kicked herself several times over" for passing on "Desperate Housewives," but when she took a seat next to Cherry last month, there were no signs of bruises -- or regrets.
"I just had other things I wanted to do," Delany said. "I had just finished something, and I didn't want to go back to a series."
It's also possible that Delany saw too many similarities between "Housewives" and her 2001-02 series "Pasadena," a failed soap of a much darker hue. Whatever her misgivings, Delany is now on board, playing Katherine Mayfair, a woman who lived on Wisteria Lane 12 years ago and was friends with Susan. Now she moves back with her younger husband, a gynecologist played by Nathan Fillion ("Firefly"). He previously played a priest who romanced Delany's deranged "Pasadena" housewife.
Delany's character moved away under mysterious circumstances, and she returns a changed woman. Flashbacks will involve the show's now-deceased narrator, Mary Alice Young (Brenda Strong), who was alive at the time.
"Very soon the women figure out there's something surprisingly creepy about this family," Cherry said. "You see Dana Delany playing a woman who was clearly different in the past, and they've got a secret. The Dana Delany character is an alpha female who goes up against all-out women, especially Bree."
Cherry said while both of these new characters have secrets, they also have a comedic point of view, something the secret-holding Betty Applewhite (Alfre Woodard) lacked in season two.
"This is a much more well-rounded match for the show," Cherry said. "In the second season we went to the mystery that was just kind of dark and stopped the action. We're using humor, drama, pathos, everything these guys have to offer."
Elsewhere on Wisteria Lane, Cherry said:
Gabrielle (Eva Longoria) continues her affair with ex-husband Carlos (Ricardo Antonio Chavira), which will have complications.
Lynette (Felicity Huffman) has to deal with her mother (Polly Bergen), chemotherapy and the effects cancer has on her family.
Susan and Mike (James Denton) try to settle into domestic bliss, but Susan refuses to believe Mike is really happy, and there's a big development at the end of the season premiere (my bet: she's pregnant).
Cherry said he used to steal plots, scenes or scraps of dialogue from his family's life, but he's pretty much used all that material up.
"What I'm really doing now is raping the lives of my writers, so when I hire a writer, I make sure they had a dreadful childhood," he said. "Then you're hired."
WPXI delays move
Channel 11 was expected to move into its new Summer Hill facility around Labor Day, but general manager Ray Carter said the on-air premiere of the new station and new set will be delayed until the 6 p.m. news on Sept. 23 to allow more time to get everything in working order.
"We just want to get it right and not rush it," he said.
By holding off a few weeks, WPXI also avoids jockeying for viewer attention with WTAE, which plans to debut a new set of its own on Sept. 4.
A&E looks for hauntings
Cable network A&E's "Paranormal State" (formerly "Paranormal U"), which is now slated to premiere late this fall, is seeking more haunted locations to explore, particularly in Centre County.
"State" features members of Penn State University's Paranormal Research Society as they chase down things that go bump in the night. If you think you have a potential case, e-mail details to PaHaunted@yahoo.com.
Channel surfing
Showtime comedy "Weeds" had its third-season premiere Monday with its most viewed episode ever. ... Inexplicably, the terrible new Sci Fi Channel series "Flash Gordon" had the best series premiere telecast for the cable network this year, drawing 2.1 million viewers. Meanwhile, Sci Fi Channel has canceled "Painkiller Jane." ... Fox News Channel has pulled the plug on its conservative "Daily Show," the "Half Hour News Hour." ... A "Friday Night Lights" soundtrack was in stores a few weeks ago, and a "House" soundtrack drops Sept. 18. Look for a "Dexter" CD in stores Aug. 28. ... GSN's "Grand Slam" is now airing a new episode just once a weekend, 7 p.m. Saturday, with the championship match set for Sept. 8. ... Catilin Espy of Moon was plucked from the "Ellen" audience and is featured in new on-air promos for the daytime talk show.
TV Q&A
This week's TV Q&A responds to questions about "Entourage," TCM and "The Kill Point." Read it online at post-gazette.com/tv.
First Published: August 17, 2007, 12:15 a.m.
