Cannes Film Festival 2013

A day in the life of press tour: NBC

A busy day for the Peacock and its cable pals.

<p>Boris Kodjoe and Gugu Mbatha-Raw in "Undercovers."</p>

Boris Kodjoe and Gugu Mbatha-Raw in "Undercovers."

Credit: NBC

My need for sleep and then to catch up on pilots (FX's "Terriers" is going to be one of my new favorite shows) meant I couldn't do a press tour schedule post in advance. Today is NBC (and NBC-affiliated cable channels like USA and Bravo). We already had a breakfast-time schmooze with the cast of "Covert Affairs," and I'm writing this in the middle of the panel for NBC's "The Event," yet another post-"Lost" show with a complex mythology and a teasing style of narrative. (The creator has already used the very familiar phrase, "You have to go on faith that we know what we're doing.") After the jump, a run-down of the rest of the day...

9:45-10:15 a.m.: "Undercovers," the latest JJ Abrams show that JJ has very little to do with. NBC isn't even bothering to put him on the panel, but instead we get the likable cast (Boris Kodjoe, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Gerald McRaney) and actual hands-on producer Josh Reims.

10:30-11 a.m.: An executive session with Jeff Gaspin and Angela Bromstad, in which they get to be relieved that for once, another network (ABC, with Steve McPherson's abrupt eve-of-TCA resignation) is the one with the dysfunctional leadership.

11-11:40 a.m.: A writing break.

11:40 a.m.-12:10 p.m.: "Law & Order: Los Angeles," with Skeet Ulrich and producers Rene Balcer, Blake Masters and the always-quotable Dick Wolf. Wolf is famous at press tour for keeping a notecard in his pocket with some kind of pre-written rant/monologue on it, and if a reporter says the magic words, he will pull it out and read it aloud for us. (And no cheating; I once tried the direct approach of asking if he had something he wanted to share, and he just smiled and said no, he was just thrilled to be here.)

12:20-12:50 p.m.: "Facing Kate," a new USA drama with Sarah Shahi from "Life." I may miss a bit of this while I go to interview Anne Dudek from "Covert Affairs" about her awesomeness, but if anything memorable happens, Fienberg will be in the ballroom.

12:50-2:10 p.m.: Lunch, plus an MSNBC session with Lawrence O'Donnell.

2:10-2:40 p.m.: "Outsourced," the new comedy that has been by far the most-reviled new sitcom pilot. Could be ugly, or the producers and stars may be verbally nimble enough to defuse the outrage.

2:40-2:55: A "Biggest Loser"-themed break. These breaks often feature ice cream or candy or other junk food. I'm guessing not here.

2:55-3:15 p.m.: Jimmy Smits in "Outlaw" (previously known as "Garza").

3:15-3:35 p.m.: Another themed break, this time tied to "Top Chef Just Desserts." Ah-ha! This is where we'll get junk food to undo everything we learned during the "Biggest Loser" break.

3:35-3:55 p.m.: "Chase," a generic new Jerry Bruckheimer drama about a U.S. Marshals squad specializing in fugitives. 20 minutes is awfully brief for a new network series, but I'll be curious to see if we have enough questions to fill even that much time.

4:10-4:25 p.m.: "Hunting Hollywood," the first of two mini-panels for Syfy. This one's a reality show about movie memorabilia.

4:40-4:55 p.m.: A "Destination Truth" panel with Josh Gates and producer Brad Kuhlman.

5:10-5:30 p.m.: "School Pride," an "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition"-style NBC reality show produced by Cheryl Hines from "Curb."

5:45-6:15 p.m.: A combined panel for "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" and the Emmys, which Fallon will host this year.

7-10 p.m.: The non-party party on the hotel rooftop.

Alan-sepinwall-sm
Alan Sepinwall
Sr. Editor, What's Alan Watching
Alan Sepinwall has been reviewing television since the mid-'90s, first for Tony Soprano's hometown paper, The Star-Ledger, and now for HitFix. His new book, "The Revolution Was Televised," about the last 15 years of TV drama, is for sale at Amazon. He can be reached at sepinwall@hitfix.com

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  • Unamused_talkback_profile

    mac35

    Yeesh, what a snoozer of a lineup from NBC. Not a single show on there that I'm considering watching (except Facing Kate, Sarah Shahi is um, really really attractive).

    July 30, 2010 at 2:00PM EST Reply to Comment
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    Rob

    Dick Wolf has been pretty openly critical in the past about the CSIs all being the same show in different cities. I'd love to know how he thinks L&O:LA is going to be distinct from the original L&O and not just a rehash of what we saw for the last 20 years.

    July 30, 2010 at 2:00PM EST Reply to Comment


  • Every time someone mentions a JJ Abrams show and claim him to be the genius behind the idea, I cringe.

    July 30, 2010 at 2:15PM EST Reply to Comment
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    Tom

    The Event is going to be great. It got a great response at Comic Con

    July 30, 2010 at 2:20PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    M

    I've heard good things about The Event, but I have absolutely zero interest in watching it. After Vanished, The Nine, Traveler, Flash Forward, Kidnapped, Daybreak (I'm sure I'm leaving something out) I find it hard to get excited about these heavily serialized conspiracy shows. Not only did most of those shows either get cancelled midway through or turn out to be total duds, but just the entire idea seems completely been there, done that.

    July 30, 2010 at 2:25PM EST Reply to Comment


  • You mentioned problems with "Outsourced". Does that show have any connection to the movie with the same name from a few years ago? Because I liked the movie a lot and this seems to have the exact same name and premise.

    July 30, 2010 at 3:11PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Summer09hitfix_talkback_profile

    gregel

    Does Bruckheimer actually show up to these panels anymore? Or is he just trying to find ways to blow up the marketing and distribution dept. at Disney these days?

    July 30, 2010 at 3:29PM EST Reply to Comment
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    Kujo

    I'll check out "Undercovers" only to see Gugu Mbatha-Raw. Never heard of her prior to this show. She's too fine.

    I'll give "The Event" a few episodes to impress me.

    July 30, 2010 at 5:14PM EST Reply to Comment
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    Jeff

    Saw The Event at the Con and thought it was a lot fun. Not sold on the show, but will watch the first few for sure.

    Terries was AWESOME. My favorite pilot I saw all year. The spots they have been showing during Rescue Me are pretty strange, but FX always does weird promos. Surprised there hasn't been a whole lot of buzz about Terriers, but I for one can't wait to watch in Sept.

    July 30, 2010 at 8:36PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    Tausif Khan

    5:45-6:15 p.m.: A combined panel for "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" and the Emmys, which Fallon will host this year.

    There better be a lot of jokes about how Jimmy is sorry that Conan isn't hosting the show.

    July 30, 2010 at 10:09PM EST Reply to Comment

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