TV

TCA Liveblog: “The Event,” “Undercovers,” “Law & Order: Los Angeles,” “Facing Kate,” Outlaw,” and “Chase”

3:30 p.m. Chase

In the new action show about U.S. Marshalls, Kelli Giddish plays Annie Frost, a Texan with a talent for chasing down the best of criminals. Giddish’s co-star is someone we know well: Rose Rollins.

Rose said she plays “Daisy, aka Hurricane. I balance out the Chatterbox over here, which is Marco, because I am a woman of few words. I am the tactical specialist. I come from a tight knit family, second generation Nigerian.”

And it’s true – in the pilot, even when Rose is on screen, she’s not saying much. But I feel like her role will grow as the show goes on and establishes itself. Also Executive Producer Jennifer Johnson says we’ll see a friendship unfold between Annie and Lucy and “learn a secret” about Annie.

I asked Rose if she knows her character’s romantic situation and she said there hasn’t been any development in that area as of yet.

I don’t know yet – that’s the fun part. We kind of go episode by episode so each episode we learn things about ourselves. We know general directions but overall, little details, but hopefully. I’d like a little action!

She said about her lesbian fans:

One of the producers told me they get a lot of mail just saying they’re excited to see me on the show and can’t wait to see what the show’s about. I think they’ll like it. I think I won’t fall too far from the tree, and I still hold a gun.

3:15 p.m. Outlaw

Last week I told you that Carly Pope plays bisexual on the new NBC series Outlaw, so I had to find out from her how much the bisexuality is a part of her role as Lucinda, the private investigator.

I think the thing about Lucinda is she keeps her cards close to her chest. I think in terms of that comment in the pilot, it’s more about playing with him and teasing Eddie than it is about a declaration of where she’s coming from. Also, we’re only going to get to know her very slowly, so we’ll start to see more and more how things turn out with her and where she’s coming from. The thing that makes her more intriguing is that you don’t know much about her.

This made me think of someone else – someone on CBS who also has a penchant for mystery, leather jackets and a name ending in -inda: Kalinda from The Good Wife. Pope said she hasn’t seen the show but, “I’ve heard that. A lot of people have said that to me.”

I wasn’t giving up. If Carly didn’t know about Lucinda’s sexuality, perhaps executive producer David Kissinger would.

I think she’s a very playful character that likes to create mystery around herself so I don’t think we will know. She may well be [bisexual].

As far as romantic interests, he’s also not sure. “Not in the early episodes.”

And does he watch The Good Wife?

I don’t.

I’m pretty sure this show is all about Jimmy Smitts and everyone else is secondary. I’ll keep my eye on Lucinda in the meantime, just in case they decide to follow through with her fleeting statement of “I’m bi” to her co-worker in the pilot episode.

A reporter here noted that Carly’s father is involved with the law in real life and asked if it was part of her taking interest in the product. She did say that while growing up, his profession helped her learn more about the law, but mostly, it was about the show itself.

It’s a really refreshing take on a legal drama. The writing was phenomenal, the cast they assembled is great – I thought it was a formula I’d like to be a part of.

Executive producer John Eisendrath calls her “the most lawless character on the show.” So no matter what, she’ll be fun to watch.

1:45 p.m. MSNBC

MSNBC President Phil Griffin was on stage during lunch to discuss their current schedule and Lawrence O’Donnell’s new show, The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell. One thing that peaked my interest was how much Griffin referenced The Rachel Maddow Show and the success of it. Griffin noted:

Rachel is just beginning to find her audience. She’s so good and so strong, she’s just going to grow.

Glad to hear that the network is as proud and supportive of her as we are.

12:30 p.m. Facing Kate

Sarah Shahi is giving Maggie Q a run for her money in the most likable on stage department. During the panel for her new USA series, Shahi flashed her gorgeous grin and cracked jokes on how similar she is to her character Kate.

Creator Michael Sardo said they saw hundreds of girls for the role of a former lawyer-turned-mediator who can’t get away from the all the lawyers in her life (her soon-to-be ex-husband and her stepmother included) but also enjoys involving herself in conflict, as long as it can be resolved.

The reason we cast Sarah, in addition to her loveliness and acting ability, is that we had auditioned 100s of women and in [a scene where you walk into a deli] and one guy pulled out a bat and the other guy pulled a gun saying ‘Give me the money,’ 100 people backed up and Sarah was the only one that moved toward it.

In regards to what she has in common with her character, Shahi said:

Both of us are sort of – we don’t treat issues with kid gloves on. We cut to the chase and we’re no bull shitters. I’m a mother and that was one of the first things i learned becoming a mom – I don’t have anytime for any bullshit. Kate’s kind of the same way.

The promo we got to see was of Kate at work (helping people solve legal conflicts out of court), dealing with her bitchy stepmom (asking if she’s her colleague or just her arch-nemesis) and maintaining a friends-with-benefits relationship with her ex. We get to see Sarah’s comedic acting chops as she steps in between the aforementioned guy with a gun and guy manning the cash register, negotiating that the cashier hand over $100 and not have to pay $1000 for a head injury at the hospital.

So what’s in it for lesbians – besides, you know, Sarah Shahi? Here’s what she said:

Those L Word fans have been so loyal and so accepting of anything that I’ve done. I think they’ll like it. I think they’ll enjoy seeing me in something that’s kind of light, and the role of Carmen was kind of light on The L Word. My character doesn’t take herself too seriously. She’s fun and I think they’ll have fun watching it.

I also feel compelled to add that she also looks incredibly sexy post-baby, saying she dropped the 30 pounds she put on because “I never have time to eat. I’m starving!” And on episode two, we’ll get a glimpse of Sarah “in socks and panties that say ‘I like boys.'” This comment was made by Sardo, to which Shahi said, “I’m trying to establish myself as a credible actor here!”

12:20 p.m. Law & Order: Los Angeles

Dick Wolf had a 20-year-run with the original Law & Order which was just axed by NBC last season. It’s newest spin-off is still very young, with star Skeet Ulrich saying he’s only seen one script. During the panel, only one female character was discussed, and that was Skeech’s character’s wife, his ex-partner that left the force to stay home with the kids.

Post-panel I asked Dick about plans for other female characters.

There are three. The captain is a woman. There are two ADAs below Terrence [Howard] and Alfred [Molina].

And will there be any gay characters?

I don’t know; that’s not part of the litmus test.

Interesting, so it gives me the impression it’s not high on Wolf’s list of priorities. If one of the women on the show isn’t a lesbian, I think it’s really a missed opportunity. This franchise hasn’t had the best track record with putting gay women in prominent positions, unless they are finding their way out the door.

I am glad to hear there will be a female captain, though. When asked if she was cast yet, Dick said he couldn’t discuss that.

11:00 a.m. NBC Executive Session

NBC received an adequate rating from GLAAD this year, improving 5 percent from 2008-2009 but still lacking in regularly occurring gay and lesbian characters. I asked Chairman of NBC Universal Television Jeff Gaspin about the rating and if they had any plans for more LGBT characters in the near future, and he didn’t name any specific shows, characters or storylines.

You know, I was certainly disappointed with us because NBC has been such a huge proponent of the gay and lesbian community from years ago from An Early Frost and Will & Grace. You know, some things are cyclical and we’re just on a downslide in our stories and our scripts. I certainly expect that we’ll rebound.

In other words, “Yeah, it’d be cool for some more gays to make their way into our shows, but we’re not really that worried about it.”

NBC President Angela Bromstad touched on two of our recently canceled shows with lesbian characters. On Heroes:

It was a great show. It was a four tremendous years for us. If we could replicate, it we absolutely would.

On FlashForward and how similar The Event seems to be:

We are going to do everything in our power to guard against doing a FlashForward [with The Event]. That was a great script and a really good pilot. It’s something we were afraid of competitively and we understand we did disappoint the audience. We take these lessons seriously. All I can tell you is the audience and critics will be, and rightly so skeptical, and we’ll have to prove it.

As of now, it seems NBC’s offering of lesbian or bisexual characters rests firmly in the hands of Carly Pope’s new bisexual character on Outlaw. If Stephanie Hunt returns to Friday Night Lights for its final season as Devin, the lesbian teen, that will make two.

10 a.m. Undercovers

One of the shows stars is Gugu Mbatha-Raw, who UK viewers will recognize from Dr. Who and basically all lesbian viewers will remember from Bad Girls.

Another incredibly straight show, based on a married couple who met as spies that come out of retirement to work together again.

A journalist notes that it’s quite revolutionary that the leads are a black couple and the creators say they didn’t set out to cast it that way, they just saw every possible incarnation of couples possible and were sold on Gugu and Boris Kodjoe.

“We weren’t going to hire two black people because they were two black people. We’re thrilled, it’s certainly something we wanted to do,” said executive producer Josh Reims. “We don’t consider it revolutionizing TV. At the same time, we realize it is a big deal and we’re happy we can do something where we wish it wasn’t such a big deal at this point in time that two major leads are black on a major network but that’s the way it is right now.”

“Let’s inspire people to refer to it as normal so people don’t think it’s taking a chance, just being creative,” Kodjoe said.

This can definitely ring true for gay and lesbian characters, too. More LGBT leads!

9 a.m. The Event

NBC’s new Lost-esque ensemble mystery show doesn’t appear to have anything too gay on it, except for the fact that star Laura Innes played lesbian Dr. Kerry Weaver on ER.

On The Event, she plays Sophia, the leader of a mysterious group of detainees.

“My character is complicated, powerful, she’s a leader, she’ll do whatever she needs to do to protect the people she’s responsible for,” Innes said. “There are many fantastic secrets to be revealed with her about her relationship with other characters. i think she’s completely fierce and she’s just a great gal. lots of things will be reveled about her very quickly.”

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem any of the secrets will be that she’s gay. There’s a chance one of the men will be gay but, according to our brothers at AfterElton.com, it’s not set in stone.

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