June 2005 News

NBC late-night host Carson Daly is going home and taking his NBC show, "Last Call With Carson Daly," which tapes in New York, with him. A native of Los Angeles, Mr. Daley will begin doing his 1:35 a.m. weeknights show from a studio on NBC's Burbank lot starting in December as "Last Call" begins its fifth season.

Powered by the two final episodes of this season's "American Idol," Fox won the week ended May 29 in both the adults 18 to 49 demographic and total viewers. The 2005-06 season ended halfway through the week on Wednesday, May 25.

The Wednesday finale of "Idol" was the highest-rated program for the week in adults 18 to 49, scoring a 12.5 rating, according to Nielsen Media Research. Tuesday's edition of "Idol" came in second with an 11.6, followed by the season finales of "Lost" (7.8), Fox's medical drama "House" (7.7) and CBS procedural "CSI: Miami."

In total viewers Wednesday's "Idol" also took the top spot, garnering 30.3 million viewers. "Idol" Tuesday was second with 28.1 million viewers, followed by "CSI: Miami" (21.2 million), "Lost" (20.7 million) and "House" (19.5 million).

ABC's perennial Sunday night performer "Desperate Housewives," which aired its season finale the previous week, was preempted for the musical special "Nick & Jessica: Tour of Duty," which came in No. 27 in the demo with a 2.4 and No. 43 in total viewers with 6.1 million.

Fox won the week in the demo with a 5.1, followed by NBC (2.8), CBS and ABC (both 2.6), UPN (1.2) and The WB (1.0).

Fox won in total viewers with 12.5 million, followed by CBS (9.4 million), NBC (7.8 million), ABC (7.2 million), UPN (2.8 million) and The WB (2.5 million).

Outdoor Life Network announced Wednesday that it has acquired the rights to rerun the first 10 seasons of "Survivor." The Comcast-owned cable network also has an option for seasons 11 and 12 after they appear on CBS.

Financial terms were not disclosed. OLN plans to launch "Survivor" July 24, after the conclusion of its coverage of the Tour de France, its highest-rated programming. After that, the network plans to strip "Survivor" Monday through Thursday at 7 p.m., rerunning each day's episode at 10 p.m. At first the network plans to televise the seasons and episodes in their original order. Later it will run "theme weeks," such as "biggest villains" and "greatest twists."

The use of outtakes and the production of original content to package into OLN's programming are still being discussed. "We think this is a terrific show for OLN," said OLN President Gavin Harvey, "possibly transformative for our network."

A multimillion-dollar promotion campaign will back the launch, he said. "Survivor" producer Mark Burnett said he expects the OLN broadcasts to help increase viewership of upcoming seasons of the show on CBS.

Mr. Burnett downplayed the notion that reality shows won't draw viewers in syndication. "There's no question this stuff will rerun," he said.

He said fans know the plot of episodes of "Friends," yet watch reruns anyway. "Crappy programming is worthless. The crown jewels will sell over and over," Mr. Burnett said.

AMC has signed a two-year deal to televise the American Cinematheque annual celebrity tribute through 2006.

AMC ran American Cinematheque tributes to Steve Martin in 2004, Nicole Kidman in 2003 and Denzel Washington in 2002.

Lifetime Entertainment said Wednesday it has reached a deal with DirecTV to distribute its Lifetime Real Women channel. Lifetime Real Women will be offered in DirecTV's Total Choice Plus and Total Choice Premiere packages beginning next week.

The ad-supported channel was launched in August 2001.

Josh Sapan, president and CEO of Rainbow Media Holdings, was named Wednesday as the winner of the CTAM Chairman's Award.

Mr. Sapan was selected by CTAM Chairman Len Fogge, executive VP of creative and marketing, Showtime Networks, for his leadership of the CTAM Education Foundation and its Executive Management Program at the Harvard Business School, which is known as CTAM U.

For the first time since 1992, King World's "The Oprah Winfrey Show" was the top-rated show in syndication, leading the way for a slew of daytime strips that also saw strong growth for the week.

For the week ended May 22, the third full week of May sweeps, 'Oprah" scored an 8.1 national household rating, according to Nielsen Media Research. The top-rated talker edged out both King World's "Wheel of Fortune" (7.9), which was down 2 percent for the week and 6 percent from the same week last year, and sister program "Jeopardy!," which was flat for the week with a 7.1, an 8 percent increase year to year.

"Oprah" spinoff "Dr. Phil" was the second-highest talk strip, growing 4 percent for the week and 5 percent for the year to a 5.9. Buena Vista's "Live with Regis and Kelly," which saw its best performance for the week on Wednesday, May 18 with a visit from "Desperate Housewives" star Teri Hatcher, was up 6 percent for the week and three percent for the year with a 3.6.

The biggest year-to-year gain for any talk strip was Warner Bros.' "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," which grew 10 percent over its performance for the same week last year, and was up 5 percent over the previous week to a 2.2.

Courtroom strips also had a good week, with genre leader "Judge Judy" from Paramount even over last year and growing 6 percent for the week to a 5.0. Paramount's "Judge Joe Brown" was also even for the year but up 3 percent for the week to a 3.4. Twentieth's "Divorce Court" grew 4 percent for the week and 17 percent for the year to a 2.8, while Warner Bros.' "Judge Mathis" was up 4 percent for the year and 9 percent for the week to a 2.5. Sony's "Judge Hatchett" was down 10 percent for the year but up 6 percent for the week to a 1.8.

Newsmagazine strips did not fare as well, with only one show, Paramount's rookie "The Insider," growing 4 percent for the week to a 2.7. Genre leader "Entertainment Tonight" was down 2 percent for the week and flat with last year with a 5.0, while King World's "Inside Edition" was flat for the week and down 6 percent from last year with a 3.3. NBC Universal's "Access Hollywood" was flat for the week and down 4 percent from last year with a 2.5, while Warner Bros.' "Extra" was flat for the week and down 12 percent from last year with a 2.2.

Debra Lee was formally named CEO of BET, effective immediately, succeeding company founder Robert Johnson, BET announced Thursday.

Mr. Johnson will be chairman of BET until he retires in January. At that time, Ms. Lee, previously president and chief operating officer, will become chairman and CEO.

Mr. Johnson has been talking about his plans to retire from BET since early this year.

CBS has picked up an additional comedy for the 2005-06 season, the Warner Bros. Television sitcom "Old Christine" starring former 'Seinfeld' regular Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

"Old Christine," which got a 12-episode pickup and is expected to premiere midseason, stars Ms. Louis-Dreyfus as Christine, a divorced woman who deals with her son and her ex-husband's seemingly perfect girlfriend, who is also named Christine.

"Christine" brings the number of new Warner Bros. shows picked up for the 2005-06 broadcast network season to 15, the highest of any studio.

CBS announced during its upfront presentation in New York in May that it had picked up the Warner Bros. legal drama "Close to Home" from producer Jerry Bruckheimer.

Fox Broadcasting said it expects to be done with its upfront sales by Friday.

The network is expected to finish with sales of about $1.6 billion, the same as last year, and is said to be getting CPM increases of slightly less than the 4 percent to 6 percent gains ABC and CBS have claimed.

CBS said Thursday it has sold between $2.5 billion and $2.6 billion in upfront advertising commitments, up from $2.3 billion last year. Joann Ross, CBS president of ad sales, said she was virtually done making deals and that the network was getting cost-per-thousand increases in the 4 percent to 6 percent range, similar to the range achieved by ABC. "Clients were willing to pay for our good schedule, but the market may end up being a bit lower," she said.

Coca-Cola is returning as a sponsor of ABC's Academy Awards telecast, the company said Thursday. After a seven-year absence, Coke brand, led by Diet Coke, will be the exclusive non-alcoholic beverage sponsor on the Oscars, with seven commercials airing during the awards show as part of the multiyear deal. "Our brands, especially Diet Coke, have been synonymous with entertainment and style for decades, so our association with the Academy Awards telecast makes perfect sense," Katie Bayne, senior VP of Coca-Cola Brands at Coca-Cola North America, said in a statement.

Spanish-language broadcaster Univision Communications on Friday said it named Andrew Hobson as chief financial officer, replacing Jeffrey Hinson, who is leaving to pursue other interests in Dallas, where he and his family live.

Mr. Hobson previously was senior executive VP and chief strategic officer at Univision, titles he will continue to hold as he adds the CFO role to his responsibilities. He continues to report to Univision Chairman and CEO A. Jerrold Perenchio.

Mr. Hobson first joined Univision in 1993 as an executive VP. From 1990-93, Mr. Hobson was a principal at Chartwell Partners, after serving six years as a VP in the investment banking group at Bankers Trust.

Mr. Hinson has agreed to be available to the company through the end of the year to assist with the transition to Mr. Hobson's leadership.

Philip Berk has been elected president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the organization announced Friday.

Mr. Berk has been a member of the HFPA for 28 years, serving as president four other times during his tenure.

Mahfouz Doss was elected VP. The new chairman of the board of directors will be Lorenzo Soria, who served as president for 2004-05.

The HFPA installation luncheon will be held later this summer.

The Television Critics Association announced its annual list of award nominees Thursday. ABC's "Desperate Housewives" topped the list with five nominations, followed closely by ABC's "Lost" and Comedy Central's "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart," with four each. The TCA Awards will be held July 23 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel and feature an introduction by "The Late Late Show" host Craig Ferguson.



Program of the Year

"Arrested Development" (Fox)

"The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" (Comedy Central)

"Deadwood" (HBO)

"Desperate Housewives" (ABC)

"Lost" (ABC)



Outstanding Achievement in Comedy

"Arrested Development" (Fox)

"The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" (Comedy Central)

"Desperate Housewives" (ABC)

"Everybody Loves Raymond" (CBS)

"Gilmore Girls" (The WB)



Outstanding Achievement in Drama

"24" (Fox)

"Deadwood" (HBO)

"House" (Fox)

"Lost" (ABC)

"Rescue Me" (FX)



Outstanding Achievement Movies, Miniseries and Specials

"Lackawanna Blues" (HBO)

"The Life and Death of Peter Sellers" (HBO)

"The Office Special" (BBC America)

"Something the Lord Made" (HBO)

"Sometimes in April" (HBO)



Outstanding New Program of the Year

"Desperate Housewives" (ABC)

"House" (Fox)

"Lost" (ABC)

"Rescue Me" (FX)

"Veronica Mars" (UPN)



Individual Achievement in Comedy

Jason Bateman ("Arrested Development")

Marcia Cross ("Desperate Housewives")

Teri Hatcher ("Desperate Housewives")

Ray Romano ("Everybody Loves Raymond")

Jon Stewart ("The Daily Show With Jon Stewart")



Individual Achievement in Drama

Kristen Bell ("Veronica Mars")

Matthew Fox ("Lost")

Hugh Laurie ("House")

Ian McShane ("Deadwood")

Kiefer Sutherland ("24")

The Museum of Television & Radio announced the resignation of its president of 14 months, Stuart N. Brotman, Friday and said it would conduct a national search for Mr. Brotman's replacement.

No explanation for the abrupt departure was offered in the announcement. Frank A. Bennack, Jr., chairman of the board of trustees of the museum, said, "We are deeply grateful for Stuart's service. … He leaves with the respect of all involved in the museum's work and with our best wishes for success in his future endeavors."

A statement from Mr. Brotman, who previously headed his own consulting firm, said, "I leave with a profound appreciation of the museum's mission and with a sense of accomplishment. I look forward to remaining active in the global media, entertainment, telecommunications and technology industries through new avenues of opportunity."

The premiere of NBC's 1980s pop concert showcase "Hit Me Baby One More Time" received a 4.7 rating among viewers 18 to 49 (8.9 million viewers overall).

Though the night was won by CBS with its top-rated crime dramas "CSI" and "Without a Trace," NBC said "Hit Me" tied a "CSI" rerun to be the highest 18 to 49 prime-time telecast since the end of May sweeps, and was the highest-rated summer unscripted series premiere since 2003.

After some initial resistance, NBC has begun writing upfront advertising deals charging less than last year, according to sources. Long the dominant network among viewers 18 to 49, NBC this season sank to fourth place with its ratings off 17 percent. Ad buyers are taking advantage of NBC's woes and a generally weak market by holding out for deals calling for CPMs 3 percent to 4 percent lower than last year.

Once source said NBC had completed about half of its deals, and that those were in the flat to minus-2 percent range. With its ratings and prices down, one buyer calculated that NBC could see its upfront sales drop 20 percent to 30 percent from last year's $2.9 billion, which was tops among all networks.

NBC had no comment.

When TLC later this year airs "Da Vinci Declassified," its documentary on Dan Brown's book "The Da Vinci Code," don't expect a lingering opening shot of a sunset on a hillside with a male choir singing in the distance.

Be prepared instead for fast-paced sounds and graphics more akin to a documentary on video games than one on claims about Jesus' life.

The more frenetic style of the show is emblematic of the changes in the documentary genre as a whole. Audiences are armed with exponentially increasing numbers of choices, and programmers-documentarians included-need to grab viewers more quickly than in the past.

That's not all that's changing in the world of documentaries. The genre as a whole is enjoying a renaissance because production tools are more affordable, giving a greater number of filmmakers a chance. There also are more outlets. There are now about 30 networks, primarily on cable, that program at least some nonfiction content, said Richard Propper, president of the Los Angeles-based International Documentary Association.

But with so many programming genres in general spilling over into each other, what defines a documentary today? Many networks try to define it as broadly as possible to include some of their reality fare.

While reality TV has its roots in documentary film technique, not many reality shows can actually claim to be documentaries. Staged reality shows or contest-oriented fare such as TLC's onetime hit "Trading Spaces" or ABC's "The Bachelor" certainly aren't documentaries, but shows such as Discovery Channel's "American Chopper" or A&E's "Dog the Bounty Hunter" could make a case.

Even so, few viewers would put those shows in the same category as the meaty investigative work done by PBS or HBO in the documentary genre. Those are the types of documentaries that win Emmys or Peabodys, and not simply because they fit the official definition of a documentary, Mr. Propper said.

Nevertheless, the genre is expanding beyond old-school, traditional forms. At the same time, more networks are commissioning fare for this more expansively defined programming category, including relative documentary newcomers such as GSN and Spike, along with traditional stalwarts such as A&E, Discovery, Court TV and National Geographic.

A&E and Discovery have both recently started units dedicated to fund theatrical distribution of documentaries that also can later run on the TV networks. A&E's unit, A&E IndieFilms, also helps fund documentaries that don't have theatrical releases but are shown in film festivals. That includes "Bearing Witness," the film that A&E funded from the ground up and that ran last month on the network. The film, which was screened at this year's Tribeca Film Festival, chronicled over the course of a year the work of five female journalists in the line of fire during the war in Iraq.

The IDA does not track the increase in documentaries, but most documentary producers and cable executives interviewed for this story said the number is rising. They attributed that rise to basic economics. A filmmaker can procure a camera and a nonlinear editing system for about $15,000 today, compared with about $50,000 just a few years ago.

"I see more high-quality documentaries than ever before," said Cara Mertes, executive producer for longtime PBS documentary "POV."

The style of today's documentaries is also a little fresher. They include more graphics and animation and fewer talking heads, she said.

What's more, in many documentaries the voice-of-God approach, in which the narrator seems to know everything, has been replaced by a hipper, energetic, younger but still intelligent voice, Mr. Propper said. And thanks to smaller cameras and more flexible technology, filmmakers are able to get more close-up shots in tight places than before. "You can mount a camera on a tree as it's being cut down," he said. That's led to more compelling video and less need for the languorously paced shots that seem to last forever.

The proliferation of cable channels has created a need for more documentaries on niche subjects, said David Carr, documentary filmmaker and co-founder of Beantown Productions, which is making the TLC documentary on "The Da Vinci Code." Documentaries no longer must be about weighty issues but can involve a wide range of subjects, such as bands for VH1 or old-time Hollywood for American Movie Classics, he said.

Partly as an outgrowth of the Internet and the on-screen ticker on many news channels, the documentary format has become more visually intense, with graphics and text stuffing the lower third of the screen. Viewers are accustomed to reading a lot of information on the screen, said Ian Valentine, senior VP of programming at GSN.

As documentaries such as "Super Size Me" and "Fahrenheit 9/11" have become theatrical hits over the past few years, they have helped bring the genre into vogue at the networks, many of which have established units for theatrical documentaries. Discovery, paired with Lions Gate, will distribute the feature-length documentary "Grizzly Man" theatrically this summer, said Billy Campbell, president of Discovery Networks.

"Often documentaries have trouble getting funded," Mr. Campbell said. "What we are saying is if you really believe in it and it meshes with our goals, we will fund it for you."

A&E is aiming for something similar with its new documentary unit, A&E IndieFilms, designed to commission independent documentaries, finance films and help them gain theatrical distribution.

Though more documentaries are seeing the light of day, the challenge of capturing audience attention is also greater. "You have to make sure you deliver something they haven't seen before," said Nancy Dubuc, senior VP of nonfiction and alternative programming at A&E. "We have all seen the sunrise shot before, a million times. It's not special anymore."

A&E is going after more unusual topics. One example is its "Rollergirls" series, slated for a premiere next year. Focusing on a group of women in Austin, Texas, who are breathing new life into roller derby, the series falls under a broader nonfiction category, along with shows such as "Dog the Bounty Hunter," which follows the exploits of Hawaii-based bounty hunter Duane "Dog" Chapman that has already become a qualified hit for the network.

Court TV is producing shows with a similar ethos. General Manager Marc Juris said documentaries are rooted in storytelling, a definition that would include "expert reality" docudramas about real people, such as Court TV's upcoming "Parco PI," about a private detective, and "Las Vegas Law," which is centered on a Las Vegas lawyer. "I think the world has changed since they invented the term 'documentary,'" he said.

"'Documentaries' does really imply an old style of program, because I don't know that viewers would say these are documentaries. To them, they are stories. This is just a different way to tell a story," he said.

Turner Classic Movies produces four to six documentaries a year that air as part of film festivals and programming stunts on the channel. For instance, it might do a documentary looking at the life of a movie star from the 1940s, then air a series of films featuring that performer. The programs serve as "accents" for the network and help generate publicity, said Tom Karsch, general manager for TCM.

Some outlets, such as Discovery Times (see related story), still do traditional issue-oriented documentaries. Link TV, which is carried on satellite systems DirecTV and EchoStar, airs documentaries on human rights, women's rights, world poverty and other important topics, said Jack Willis, senior VP of programming. "We want to build empathy and a framework within which people can understand the rest of the world," he said.

Even some networks known for documentaries are revisiting how to present them. PBS, which has championed the documentary genre for years through series such as "American Masters" and "POV," plans to air the three-hour "Walking the Bible" documentary early next year. While the topic is traditional, executive producer Drew Levin said, the show won't be a "white-beard documentary" but instead will be told as an adventure in a style reminiscent of the "Indiana Jones" films.

Since its inception in 1985, when it consisted only of its original flagship network Discovery Channel, Discovery Networks has used documentary programming to help fashion identities for its various individual brands.

The 2-year-old Discovery Times Channel, for instance, a joint venture between Discovery and The New York Times, has based its lineup on documentaries about current affairs and world events. Now the network has begun to broaden its programming strategy to offer documentary series as well.

Most recently, after televising three "Off to War" specials, the network greenlighted the show as a limited series for a 10-episode season, beginning this fall. For the series, documentary filmmakers and brothers Brent and Craig Renaud of Arkansas followed a National Guard unit of 57 men from Clarksville, Ark., who were called to duty in April 2004. It chronicles their deployment and service in Iraq as well as the feelings and reactions of those at home.

"These are real characters. This is better than any reality TV because it is reality," said Vivian Schiller, senior VP and general manager for the network. "It follows these guys and gets to know them and follows what happens at home."

Another documentary series, "Only in America," focusing on subcultures such as fight clubs and gay rodeo, is also slated to launch on Discovery Times this fall.

The addition of these two series to the network schedule is significant because they represent Discovery Times' first efforts to move beyond the tentpole programming strategy of scheduling everything around big, promotable specials. "Now that we are in 36 million homes, we need to shift to a series strategy," Ms. Schiller said.

The network will continue to offer the one-off documentary specials on which it has built its brand. It recently ran programs on women in Saudi Arabia and on the crisis in Sudan.

Some of the fare is lighter-weight. New limited series set for June include "Times 7," a magazine-style show examining topical events, and a show called "Superhomes," on selling high-end real estate.

Many of the Discovery Times shows are the sort of meaty documentaries that could be on a PBS "Nova" or "Frontline" episode, said Richard Propper, president of the International Documentary Association.

The network launched in March 2003. Discovery Times produces about 30 hours each month of fresh content. Other programming, such as "Promised Land," the Discovery Channel documentary on the migration of African Americans from the South to the North, is borrowed from its sister networks. But about 75 percent of Discovery Times content is unique to the channel, including originally commissioned, acquired and licensed programming, Ms. Schiller said.

"We felt there was a need for in-depth documentaries about news and recent events, whether it's the war in Iraq or stuff happening in your neighborhood, using the best documentary techniques, great characters [and] compelling narratives," she said. "We sort of occupy this space between news and documentary."

As such, the channel is probably the purest of the Discovery networks in staying true to the documentary genre's roots, said Billy Campbell, president of Discovery Networks. "[Ms. Schiller] has the latitude to be more traditional in what they do," he said.

The network targets men and adults 25 to 54, and Ms. Schiller said the ad sales team sells the network as a companion buy to the news networks. In the first quarter of 2005, the median age of a Discovery Times viewer was 47, compared with 57 for the cable news networks, according to Nielsen data provided by Discovery Times.

Advertisers include CDW, Microsoft and Pfizer. The latter two have served as presenting sponsors for Discovery Times' "Screening Room," a programming block of festival-style films that launched in 2004. It's a low-clutter environment for advertisers, Ms. Schiller said.

Discovery Times fits for CDW because the computer company's target audience tends to be heavy news consumers, said Kathy Duhig, VP and associate media director at JWT Technologies, which handles media planning for the technology clients at J. Walter Thompson. Discovery Times also fits within a larger media buy on the big Discovery networks, the diginets and Discovery online properties, she said.

The popular book "Bringing Down the House" chronicled a group of MIT students who won millions at blackjack by devising an elaborate card-counting system. Their story will form the basis for an episode of GSN's new documentary series "Anything to Win," as will the tales of Rosie Ruiz, who was stripped of her 1980 Boston Marathon title on suspicion of cheating, and a group of people who allegedly fixed the Pennsylvania Lottery by weighting ping-pong balls.

What the subjects of these episodes have in common, GSN executives said, was a desire to win at all costs. The series based on their stories will recount people's relentless, unwavering quest for victory, whether their actions were legal, illegal or just plain wrong.

The documentary series, which debuts in August, effectively pulls back the curtain on the wizard and shows audiences in detail how the various hoodwinking attempts took place, said Ian Valentine, senior VP of programming at GSN. In some cases, the show will address what has been done to prevent such occurrences from happening again.

Since its rebrand last year GSN has been ramping up its original production slate, and documentaries fit into that because there are so many compelling gaming stories to tell, Mr. Valentine said.

While "Anything to Win" is far afield from traditional documentaries, it may fit well on a network about games. GSN has aired documentary specials only twice before-"Video Game Invasion" in 2004 and "Big Bucks: The 'Press Your Luck' Scandal" in 2003.

Of those two, only "Big Bucks" was a hit, tripling the network's prime-time household rating at the time with a 1.5, Mr. Valentine said.

Still, the success of "Big Bucks" might bode well for the potential of "Anything to Win," which has similar content. The earlier program detailed how in 1984 ice cream truck driver Michael Larson memorized the electronic sequences of "Press Your Luck" to become the game show's single-biggest one-day winner ever.

Mr. Valentine said GSN thinks that show worked because it was a story about a person rather than a phenomenon, such as video games. He said the same criterion applies to "Anything to Win," which is produced by Erik Nelson and Dave Harding, two of the producers behind "Big Bucks."

'Anything to Win'

Network: GSN

Production company: Creative Differences

Time slot: Sunday, 10.p.m. (ET and PT); premieres Aug. 14

Logline: Stories on people's efforts to win no matter what

With such shows as "Frasier" and "The Sopranos" missing from the television landscape this past season, the 57th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards will have open races in an unprecedented number of categories, providing opportunities for new series to walk away with statuettes in their first season on the air.

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, which will hold its annual Emmy ceremony Sept. 18 at Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium, is known for stability when it comes to nominations for comedy and drama series.

"You have a pretty slow rotation," ATAS VP of Awards John Leverence said of nominations for acting, writing and directing for dramas and comedies. "In any given year you have 60 to 80 percent returns. Just by the fact of series going out of production, there is more opportunity for new programming coming in."

If ratings, critical acclaim and pop culture buzz mean anything, the prime beneficiaries from the newly open real estate could be a slew of first-season broadcast shows that have given the networks their best-rated seasons in the adults 18 to 49 demographic in recent memory.

On ABC, the hour-long Sunday night series "Desperate Housewives" is considered a strong contender in the comedy series, writing, directing and actress categories, while the airplane disaster series "Lost" could reap the benefits of so many openings on the drama side. NBC's "Medium" and Fox's "House" are two more new dramas that are actively lobbying for nominations.

Last year's Emmy Awards marked the final year of eligibility for outgoing comedy stalwarts "Frasier," "Sex and the City" and "Friends." And due to HBO's nontraditional programming schedule, award show darlings "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "The Sopranos," which were eligible for last year's Emmys, didn't run episodes during this year's eligibility period.

Last year's wins on the comedy acting side proved that series in their final season were favorites. "Sex and the City" scored both comedy actress wins while "Frasier" took the two comedy actor awards. That means this year the entire comedy actor and actress slate is open for performers who did not win last year.

"It logically follows if last year you were saying goodbye, this year you are saying hello," Mr. Leverence said.

Categories without a previous winner this time out are not limited solely to actors in comedy series. The supporting actor and supporting actress in a drama Emmys went to "The Sopranos," as did statuettes for best writing in a drama and best drama series.

"It's rare we're seeing this kind of housecleaning," said Tom O'Neil, author of "The Emmys" and webmaster of Goldderby.com, which handicaps show business awards ceremonies. "It will be dramatic."

The new faces will also trickle down into the nominations. In the comedy actor category, for example, three of last year's nominees-"Frasier's" Kelsey Grammer, "Curb Your Enthusiasm's" Larry David and the late John Ritter of "8 Simple Rules" aren't eligible this year. Three new nominees will be needed for both the actress in a comedy and supporting actress in a comedy categories. And in the comedy directing and drama writing categories, four of the five spots will have to be filled with nominees from shows not considered last year.

"It's a good year for the Emmys that it is getting all this new fresh blood in there," Mr. O'Neil said.



Changes Coming

Following its traditional schedule, the ceremony will take place from 5-8 p.m. (PT), airing live on the East Coast on CBS and on tape delay in the West at 8 p.m. Nominating ballots are mailed and posted on the ATAS Web site this week, and the postmark deadline for completed ballots to the accounting firm Ernst & Young is June 22. Nominees are scheduled to be announced July 14 at a 5:30 a.m. (PT) press conference from the Leonard H. Goldenson Theatre at the Academy's North Hollywood, Calif., headquarters.

While the number of categories awarded during the telecast will be the same this year, ATAS announced in April it would forgo spontaneous speeches in all writing, directing and some TV movie, miniseries and variety series categories in favor of taped acceptance statements. As the announced winner walks up to the stage, a split screen will show the acceptance speech, so as the winner receives the Emmy the show can move on to the next category.

"The consolidation of the walk to the stage and the Emmy speech is the broad-stroke revision of these awards," Mr. Leverence said, noting that all the nominees in the affected categories will tape acceptance messages, and the yet-to-be-named telecast director will plug in the winner's speech once the name or names have been announced.

The pre-taped strategy was a compromise crafted between the writers and directors guilds and ATAS after the academy proposed removing a number of categories from the telecast, a move the guilds strongly opposed. The compromise is likely to serve no one well, Mr. O'Neil said.

"Everyone is going along with it because it's a compromise that saves face," he said, noting that the broadcast networks, which underwrite the telecast, have also resented the domination of the cable networks in the miniseries and TV movie categories, which prompted a discussion of moving those acceptances to the Creative Arts ceremony as well. Mr. O'Neil compared the changes to the Motion Picture Academy's time-saving changes to the Oscar ceremony this year, which included some awards being presented from the audience.

"This is the same kind of folly we saw at the Oscars, where the producers came up with these numbskull alternatives for non-celebrities," Mr. O'Neil said. "They looked ridiculous. It was demeaning and showed no importance for that moment, which is to honor the show business tradition."

Mr. O'Neil said he doesn't expect the changes scheduled for this year to become Emmy tradition.

"It's permissible as a one-year experiment that is certain to fail," he said.

ABC's hit Sunday night series "Desperate Housewives" is more than just a television show-it is a full-fledged cultural phenomenon that has changed the television landscape.

Laura Bush jokes about it, conservative groups complain about it, and audiences can't seem to get enough of it, despite the conventional wisdom that audiences no longer responded to serialized shows and favored procedurals (a "wisdom" that was shattered once "Housewives" became the top-rated scripted series on television in adults 18 to 49). Huge audiences and critical acclaim came instantly after it premiered in the fall, and Golden Globe nominations and wins followed in January.

But is the hour-long single-camera series without a laugh track really a comedy?

On paper, "Housewives" seems dramatic: four homemakers on a well-kept but nondescript suburban street are shocked by the suicide of a friend and neighbor who led a seemingly perfect life. As the series' first season unfolded, serious issues, from murder to infidelity and marital strife, dominated. But the show's subversive comedic core, which shows itself through both broad physical comedy and witty dialogue, permeates the otherwise heavy story lines.

The melding of tragedy and comedy is what makes the series so compelling, said John Rash, senior VP and director of broadcast operations for Campbell Mithun.

"Like life itself, and nearly all good television, it's a degree of both," he said of "Housewives." "Even the most dramatic lives and shows are comedic."

A show like "Housewives," which doesn't easily fit into conventional television categories, owes much to the unconventional series that run on cable, said Craig Zadan, an Oscar- and Emmy-winning producer who said he's a fan of the series.

"You find the shows on cable don't have the same sort of borders network shows are used to having," Mr. Zadan said. "Cable has always taken the initiative in not being pigeonholed. It has dark elements while still having comedic elements." That makes "Housewives," he said, "stand out among all the other shows that are on CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox."

Hour-long series have done well in the Emmy's comedy categories before, most notably Fox's "Ally McBeal," a legal show that tapped a host of quirky characters and musical numbers to produce laughs.

Mr. Zadan said the "Ally" model fits the "same kind of prototype" as "Housewives," but what makes the latter show such an Emmy competitor is the quality of the writing, production and acting.

"It's a strong contender in any category because it's clearly caught on as the most exciting show in television in a long time," he said.

Key to the show's success is the chemistry among its principal actors, Marcia Cross, Teri Hatcher, Felicity Huffman, Eva Longoria and Nicollette Sheridan, Mr. Zadan said.

"The casting on 'Desperate Housewives' hit the jackpot," he said. "Each and every one of them contributes something unique to the package."

That actors considered washed-up, obscure or not ready for prime time came together to create a show that works so well comedically does not surprise Mr. Zadan.

"The interrelationships

between these actors is bigger than everybody individually," he said. "It is very important to get those people in the room together and see how those people react and interrelate. In isolation you may not see that. All [of a] sudden that ensemble becomes magic."

Others to Consider

Creators J.J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof and Jeffrey Lieber prefer to call "Lost" a character drama instead of science fiction, but the show is clearly both. With its frequent homages to "Twilight Zone" and moody "X-Files"-esque mythology, the series has struck an original tone for a prime-time drama: grown-up, character-driven sci-fi.

Yet a few months before its premiere, few thought "Lost" would find an audience. The series was a holdover from ABC's previous administration under Chairman Lloyd Braun and Entertainment President Susan Lyne. At a June 2004 affiliate presentation at Disney's California Adventure theme park, executives gave "Lost" scant attention compared with series such as "Blind Justice," "Wife Swap," "Complete Savages" and "Jake in Progress."

Some in the media predicted the series was doomed. "I had a nightmare after watching the two-hour premiere," wrote a Kansas City (Mo.) Star critic. "Sadly, creator J.J. Abrams won't sleep well either once the Nielsens come in. Forecast: Canceled."

At issue was the genre and premise. Science fiction rarely works in network prime time. And why watch a scripted series about a group trapped on an island when "Survivor" had the real thing?

Even after the first few episodes, when it was clear the show found a sizable audience and received enthusiastic reviews, critics and viewers were concerned the show was writing itself into a corner-that the high-wire act of keeping the audience interested while withholding key answers to viewers' questions-What is the "monster" stalking them? Is the island alive?-would quickly lead to frustration and disappointment.

Once again, Mr. Abrams and company managed to defy expectations, giving answers to short-term solvable mysteries in lieu of the larger ones and focusing on character development.

"Though the show has big answers that come over time, it's like a journey," Mr. Abrams told TelevisionWeek in January. "To do the story, we've discussed it, [the payoff] needs to be earned."

That "Lost" was able to win over critics (taking first place in TVWeek's semiannual Critics Poll) and viewers (averaging 17.7 million per episode, according to Nielsen Media Research) despite having seemingly impossible drawbacks is a prime reasons the show deserves the best drama Emmy.

With fans eager for season two, nobody questions the show's appeal or longevity anymore.

"[The show] will continue as long as it can," Mr. Abrams said. "The island itself is full of surprises, and there's a lot more mystery and story coming up."

Others to Consider

By Amy Helmes

Special to TelevisionWeek

When HBO's "Entourage" debuted last summer, six months after the finale of "Sex and the City," it seemed questionable that the names Vince, Eric, Drama and Turtle-the four Hollywood hipsters at the center of the half-hour comedy-would ever be as recognizable as Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda. Now, almost a year later, the question for HBO might be, can the series that some consider "Sex and the City's" West Coast kid brother take over where "Sex" left off by rounding up Emmys for the network?

Dreams of a nod for best comedy writing weren't exactly foremost in the mind of "Entourage" creator and executive producer Doug Ellin when he was trying to cap off the series' freshman season, he said. He just wanted his cast's approval.

"It was the biggest stress all year," said Mr. Ellin, who co-wrote the finale with Larry Charles (a former scribe for "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "Seinfeld"). "Every day, the actors kept saying, 'We've got to make the last episode the best one.' We probably threw out two other scripts [before we got it right]."

The version they ultimately chose saw Tinsel Town's "It Boy," Vince (Adrian Grenier), hopping a private jet for New York to start work on a low-budget indie flick, but not before a last-minute "Stop the plane!" reconciliation with his best friend, Eric (Kevin Connolly), who had earlier decided to end his stint as Vince's manager.

"People at the office put the theme song to 'Titanic' over that scene as a joke at one point," said Mr. Ellin, who initially worried that the show's closing moments were too sentimental for these normally raucous and occasionally juvenile guy pals.

Striving more for good dialogue than for jokes, per se, Mr. Ellin said he's not affected by the suggestion that much of the show's humor is relevant only for L.A. residents or industry insiders. "I try to make these guys speak how they would in their world, and if people get it, they get it, and if not, well, then they don't."

The season closer featured several well-placed cameos from "Curb Your Enthusiasm's" Larry David and actress Scarlett Johansson (whom the frantic producers didn't secure until the eleventh hour). "We had no idea if we'd actually get her," Mr. Ellin said.

Mr. Ellin also appeared in the finale along with Mr. Charles as producers auditioning Vince's older brother, Johnny Drama (Kevin Dillon), for a new pilot called "CSI: Minneapolis."

It was Mr. Ellin's first cameo on the show. "I want to try to come back as much as possible," he said, "because the writing's a lot harder than the acting!"

Others to Consider

The thrilling first 20 minutes of the pilot episode of "Lost" is a blueprint for effective storytelling.

Before the first commercial, the audience has been introduced to a half-dozen unique characters as survivors scramble for cover in the wake of plane crash. The episode concludes with rock star burnout Charlie asking in an awed voice "Where are we?" and by then the audience is hooked. Other "Lost" episodes have packed more emotional punch, but for pure dramatic heavily lifting and for establishing a unique series, the pilot stands apart.

"Like '24' before it, 'Lost' reinvented the way a TV thriller was told," said TV Guide critic Matt Roush. "'24' did it by playing intensely with time and multiple points of view. 'Lost' did it with a ferocious focus on character. Not only is the pilot episode brilliantly filmed and acted-better than most big-screen action films-the script draws us into the lives and, most importantly, the minds of its immediately engaging characters."

In addition to the characters and setting, the pilot introduced the series' most distinctive innovation. A large segment of each episode is devoted to that most abused and ridiculed of writing devices: the flashback.

While flashbacks have often been used as mere expository devices or narrative shortcuts, flashbacks in "Lost" are integral to each episode; they are used to explain a character's motivations, comment on the action and flesh out the island's mysteries.

San Francisco Chronicle writer Tim Goodman called it "one of the best pilots in years."

"It clearly showed the writers were going to take a tired premise and put the electroshock paddles to it," he said. "It was one of those pilots that just stuns you. Like if the viewer accepted some creative stretches, the payoff would be a wild ride. Which it was, all season."



Others to Consider

By Lee Alan Hill

Special to TelevisionWeek

The news last October certainly got Hollywood's attention-five-time Academy Award-nominated actress Glenn Close would be joining the FX series "The Shield" as Capt. Monica Rawling, a newly created role, in its fourth season.

Ms. Close had done long-form TV projects in the past, even winning an Emmy in 1995 as the star of "Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story." But she had done only a handful of episodes as a guest. Even in her early years she devoted herself to theater, not episodic TV.

Is this a sign that her feature film career is on the wane?

"She doesn't look at work that way," said Shawn Ryan, executive producer of "The Shield." "We were lucky in the sense that she doesn't have a lot of those career hang-ups. Film, theater, TV-she wants great material, and we busted our butt to live up to the promise we would give it to her."

The character Ms. Close portrayed during the 13 episodes of the season is a police officer genuinely dedicated to cleaning up a cesspool of a precinct. As such, she found herself in conflict with not only Michael Chiklis' roguish cop but also with the other characters, such as the other top female in the squad room, portrayed by CCH Pounder.

"We needed a powerful female character on the show who could really go head-to-head with Chiklis," said John Landgraf, president and general manager of FX Networks. "Given the caliber of the show, I thought we had a shot at getting a bona fide movie star, and we did. We need to thank her agents at CAA, fans of the show, who told her to take us seriously when we went to New York to woo her.

"We thought it would be terrific to get an actress known for powerful performances, but most often [of] genteel characters, to be on the grittiest, dirtiest show on TV."

The biggest adjustment for Ms. Close, according to Mr. Ryan and Mr. Landgraf, was adapting to the pace of TV, and for that reason they went a bit light on her character for the first two episodes.

"I think she's elevated the dramatic series genre," Mr. Ryan said. "We realized early on that we needed to write fewer words for her because she can do more with her eyes and her entire instrument than even many great actors can do with the best dialogue."

Emmy voters should take note. This is most likely the only season they'll be able to honor Ms. Close as outstanding lead actress in a drama series. She may return as a guest on specific episodes next year, but her deal with FX was for just one season.

Others to Consider

Of all the "Desperate Housewives," no character is closer to the millions of fans than Felicity Huffman's Lynette Scavo, the work-at-home mom who broke down last season under the pressure of rearing four children, at least three of whom would test Mother Nature's patience.

In the Golden Globe-winning ABC hit's upcoming sophomore season, Lynette, who was a career woman on the way up until she hopped onto the mommy track, will be headed back to work-payback for having sidetracked hubby Tom's career. Ms. Huffman, who has juggled a busy stage, film and TV career with her real-life marriage to William H. Macy and motherhood of two close-in-age youngsters, rues the likelihood that the thickening plot will mean she has to give up a wardrobe of which she has become quite fond.

"I love the huge pants and the huge shorts, and that my hair is a mess, and that I'm usually covered in food. I love it. This is what my wardrobe at home looks like," she said. "I like it because it's comfortable and I don't have to be thin. I would like it if she could go to work in a high-powered corporate world looking like that."

Of course, that isn't likely to happen, but when time comes for the "Desperate" costumers to accessorize Lynette's power duds, Ms. Huffman offered this thought: "Raspberry jam is really effective. Yesterday I was covered with Fudgesicle on white pants. That's pretty good, too. It looks like some artistic Beverly Hills salon. You know how they f**k up their jeans? It looked like that."

The actress-wife-mother sounded very happy about everything in her life on and off camera. After working in many go-nowhere pilots and the critically beloved but short-lived "Sports Night," she was worried about becoming "a bit of a crepe hanger" who felt like "the unlucky penny in the mix," she said.

Now, she's feeling very lucky to be part of the smash hit created by Marc Cherry, with whom the "Desperate" cast vamped in a Broadway-style production number that stole the show at ABC's recent upfront presentation.

"I seriously had a crush [that afternoon] on Marc Cherry and kind of wanted to have his baby," Ms. Huffman said of the openly gay showrunner. "I suddenly wished he batted from the other side of the plate. I was thinking of converting him. He was beyond terrific. He should have a Broadway show."

And Ms. Huffman said she feels lucky to be a member of a cast that has been the subject of made-for-TV gossip since before the show launched. "As Nicollette [Sheridan] wisely said, 'Better they are writing about you than that they are not writing at all.'"

Others to Consider

By Brad Pomerance

Special to TelevisionWeek

Yes, he's that guy from "Stuart Little," but if you thought he was only a comedian, think again. Hugh Laurie is also a novelist, musician and television writer and now he has become the breakout star of the Fox drama "House."

"When the show launched, it may have seemed like just other medical dramas, but when you got inside Hugh Laurie's incredible character, that became the water-cooler part of the show," said Craig Erwich, executive VP of programming for Fox.

Yet this water-cooler chatter focuses on an exceedingly crabby character. "Mr. Laurie is playing an abrasive doctor, but the audience is in love with him," said Angela Bromstad, president of NBC Universal Television Studios. "The audience loves that he tells it like it is. Everyone compares him to Simon Cowell [of "American Idol"] and that's enjoyable to watch," said Katie Jacobs, executive producer of "House."

The audience has also fallen in love with the contradictions that Mr. Laurie has masterfully played up in Dr. House. "Dr. House is mean and irascible but entertaining and fun to watch. That requires an incredible performance, and if Mr. Laurie plays the role 1 percent more either way, the audience does not watch. He walks that line," said Mr. Erwich. "He's so nasty, but we don't mind hanging out with him because he is actually funny," said Ms. Jacobs.

Through it all, Mr. Laurie has proven the consummate professional. "He is always attending to the best interests of the character. He puts integrity into the role above all else," Mr. Erwich said. Despite leaving his family in London, "He is so willing to work on behalf of the show. He is such a gracious man. He is an actor's actor," Ms. Bromstad said.

And in this age of vertical integration, producer NBC Universal has sold the program to an unaffiliated network, Fox. Nevertheless, NBC could not be more pleased at Fox's willingness to let Dr. House be Dr. House. "Fox has never said to us that we should give him more emotional moments or to soften the character. They are allowing Mr. Laurie to continue down the road he is on," Ms. Bromstad said.

Still, Mr. Laurie was not beyond turning to his comedic roots when he auditioned for the role. Ms. Bromstad remembers that "he had been told that we were looking for rugged and sexy. So Mr. Laurie walked into the audition wearing jeans, tennis shoes and a button that said 'Sexy.'"

Others to Consider

The role of the straight man has traditionally been considered hard to play. Besides being the butt of the funny guy's jokes, the straight man has to get an audience response without resorting to broad physical comedic displays or in-your-face gags.

In Fox's critically acclaimed "Arrested Development," which won last year's best comedy Emmy, Jason Bateman plays the straight man as Michael Bluth, the good son who somehow holds his maniacal family together despite his father's arrest for fraud and their descent into poverty.

Mr. Bateman, who won a Golden Globe earlier this year for his "Arrested" role, holds the emotional center of the single-camera, documentary-style comedy without coming off as humorless, said David Nevins, one of the show's executive producers and the president of Imagine Television, which produces "Arrested."

"He can actually drive comedy and drive the story forward without having to push too hard," Mr. Nevins said of Mr. Bateman. "His sort of wants and needs and frustrations are always right on the surface."

Mr. Bateman, who began his career on "Little House on the Prairie" and got his first big break at the age of 12 on the NBC comedy "Silver Spoons," credits the success of his character to the show's creator, Mitch Hurwitz.

"It's just all set up to be this breeding ground of reactionary comedy," he said. "You need the black and the white with the comedy. If there isn't an Everyman, or someone to keep it relatable or tangible, you lose a lot of the funny."

Thankfully for Mr. Bateman, that tone of comedy is something he enjoys personally: "It's fortunate for me I happen to fit a character on a show that is exactly what makes me laugh."

Mr. Nevins said that when Mr. Hurwitz was casting the part there was "great anxiety" over who would play Michael Bluth. "We had no sense of what we were looking for," he said.

Mr. Nevins was on a plane to Hawaii when he got Mr. Hurwitz' message that he had found their Michael. He got on the next plane back to Los Angeles to see Mr. Bateman audition. "It was very different acting, a very different style than what Jason had done [before]," Mr. Nevins said. "He's been a total revelation."

Mr. Bateman credits his work in the never-aired, seven-episode NBC series "The Jake Effect" for his ability to alter his performance from a traditional multicamera sitcom style of comedy, where actors work with an audience and go for the obvious laugh, to a more subtle, reactionary approach. "Jake," a single-camera comedy that completed production right before Mr. Bateman signed on to "Arrested," gave him "a chance to switch gears," he said.

"That was really helpful," he added.

Mr. Nevins said Mr. Bateman's work on "Arrested" has dispelled the notion that his best acting days were behind him.

"There was a certain prejudice that people brought to him in the audition process as just being the guy who does pilots every year," he said. "But that's well behind him now."

Others to Consider

Conchata Ferrell hails from West Virginia, but her story is, in many ways, classic Hollywood.

Girl moves to New York. Does well on stage, in movies and on TV. Fast-forward through three decades of TV credits, Ms. Ferrell doing what she does best-getting laughs by speaking the truth. One day, she gets a role on CBS's "Two and a Half Men," the now 2-year-old hit comedy that next season inherits the time slot and ratings mantle of "Everybody Loves Raymond." Next thing you know, she's an overnight success.

"I came in the first year as a guest star," Ms. Ferrell said. "I came home after the first show and said to my husband, 'I hope they like me as much as I like them, because I think this is my show.'

"Then they added me to the cast this year, and I was a nervous wreck for the first four or five shows, because I thought they'd change their mind. But there has been a wonderful kind of ease on the set. Nobody's really worried about losing their job.

"For me it's a very different experience because I've been on shows that struggled along for a couple of years," Ms. Ferrell said.

"Hot L Baltimore," which was canceled after 13 shows in 1975, hurt the most, she said. Norman Lear had adapted it from Lanford Wilson's award-winning play.

"I had done the play in New York. I had created the character. The character was mine. I just hated to put her away," said Ms. Ferrell, who won an Obie for her performance in "The Sea Horse" in 1973. "But probably, for the sake of my ego, it probably was better that it didn't make it, because I was young and I was riding a wave of success, and I really thought I was awfully good."

She was. She is.

Chuck Lorre, the creator and one of the executive producers of "Two and a Half Men," tailored the character of Berta, the show's gravel-voiced housekeeper, for Ms. Ferrell, she said.

"Chuck says my character is the voice of the audience," she said. "It's like me and all these silly rich people.

"I haven't felt so at home on any show as this one," Ms. Ferrell said. "Nothing could be better than just going to work and doing this show."

Others to Consider

When HBO's single-camera Hollywood comedy "Entourage" premiered last year, the show's main thrust was to profile the misadventures of young A-list feature film actor Vincent Chase and his trio of friends/relatives/hangers-on. But in promoting "Entourage's" second season, which begins today, HBO featured an ad campaign highlighting Vincent Chase's agent, the charmingly amoral Ari Gold, played by Jeremy Piven.

Mr. Piven's portrayal of the Type A Hollywood agent who uses threats, praise, fear, humor, seduction and his personal neuroses to get what he wants struck such a chord with viewers that HBO created a Web site around what has become Ari Gold's singular catchphrase, "Let's hug it out, bitch."

Doug Ellin, "Entourage's" creator, said he knew he wanted Mr. Piven for the role three years ago, "before the show was even a possibility."

Mr. Ellin said that the character was modeled after real-life agent and Endeavor partner Ari Emanuel, as well as Mr. Ellin's own agent, Jeff Jacobs, but that much of the character comes from Mr. Piven himself.

"He brings tremendous reality to it," Mr. Ellin said, noting that the wrong actor would make Ari Gold just a nasty caricature. "There is a sparkle in the eye that makes you know at the end of the day it's all talk."

Mr. Piven, who has never been nominated for an Emmy, has been acting since he was a child growing up in Evanston, Ill., where his parents ran the acclaimed Piven Theatre Workshop. Workshop graduates include Lara Flynn Boyle, Lili Taylor, Aidan Quinn and siblings John and Joan Cusack.

Numerous feature roles, plus a recurring role in ABC sitcom "Ellen" and a lead role in the short-lived 1998 drama "Cupid," helped Mr. Piven build a solid but low-key resume.

Mr. Piven's agent, ICM's Brian Bunnin, said Mr. Piven's performance passes the test with perhaps the most demanding audience-talent agents themselves.

"People think he is spot-on," Mr. Bunnin said, noting that he is relieved Mr. Piven has made it clear he is not playing his own agent.

"The character is mischievous, the character is vulnerable, the character is loving, the character is powerful," Mr. Bunnin added. "All of these adjectives, that is what we all are in Hollywood. It shines a very bright spotlight on a side of the business. Those of us in it laugh and revel in its reality." 

Others to Consider

During the two-part pilot for ABC's hit drama "Lost," Terry O'Quinn's character, John Locke, stayed in the background, one of the dozens of shell-shocked survivors wandering the beach of a mysterious island following the crash of Oceanic Flight 815.

Viewers who recognized Mr. Quinn from his appearances on "The X-Files," "Millennium," "Alias" and the 1987 horror film "The Stepfather," however, could figure Locke was a man to keep an eye on.

Sure enough, by the third episode, the fan favorite titled "Walkabout," Locke had emerged as a tough and enigmatic survivalist. The episode's flashbacks to Locke's life before the crash, however, revealed he was once a cubicle drone for a box company, mocked by his boss and spurned by his only romantic companion, a phone sex worker.

The flashbacks concluded with Locke being rejected for an Australian "walkabout" tour because he "misrepresented" himself. Sitting in the tour office, Locke shouts his frustrated refrain, "Don't tell me what I can't do!" and then-in the best twist in a show full of them-he rolls himself out from behind the desk, revealing he's confined to a wheelchair, a fact artfully disguised during his flashbacks. The scene then cuts to a moment after the plane crash when Locke realizes he can walk for the first time in four years.

How was he healed? And why? As the season progressed, Locke was shown to have come to some kind of understanding with the island, becoming an ardent believer in its mysterious power. But whether Locke will emerge as the show's villain or hero or something in between, is unclear. The only thing for certain is that Mr. O'Quinn has helped create one of the most sympathetic and unpredictable characters on television.

"I love walking the line," Mr. O'Quinn said. "I love that people debate the character's motives and morals, and I think the longer that goes on, the more fun it is."

The question of Locke's motive is also a mystery to Mr. O'Quinn. He constantly plays scenes where Locke dances around key issues, hinting at knowledge and suggesting a motive when, in truth, he's nearly as clueless as the viewers.

"At first I thought [the producers] weren't giving us enough information," he said. "Then I realized it was freeing; I had less baggage. Like the character, I don't have a past that concerned me. It's the first time in my experience that I as an actor have accepted the viewpoint of the character I play. I let fate-in my case, the writers-take me where it may."

As for next season, Locke will clearly continue to play a key role. Last month's season finale concluded with a scene in which Jack (Matthew Fox) predicts, "We're going to have a Locke problem," setting the stage for a showdown. Mr. O'Quinn said he has no preference where the writers take his character as long as Locke continues to develop.

"I've done a lot of things; some were fun, but not very important," Mr. O'Quinn said. "But there's only been a couple times I felt like I was set free, and this is one of those times."

Others to Consider

By Brad Pomerance

Special to TelevisionWeek

Shohreh Aghdashloo received an Oscar nomination in 2004 for her work in "House of Sand and Fog," but to the American audience, this highly acclaimed Iranian actress remained mostly unknown-that is, until her powerful performance as Dina Araz in the Fox hit "24."

"She is probably the breakout TV villain this year," said Craig Erwich, executive VP of programming for Fox. Yet Ms. Aghdashloo's performance offered more than just a potent portrayal of a terrorist. She managed to transform her calculating character into a devoted mother.

"Ms. Aghdashloo was able to communicate more than one agenda at the same time-global terrorist and sympathetic mother. And yet the audience still sympathized with this mass murderer. They overlooked that she was a murderer-and not even our murderer," said Evan Katz, executive producer of "24."

And the multidimensional nature of Dina Araz proved critical when Ms. Aghdashloo decided to take on this role. "I didn't want to play a terrorist. All terrorist characters were merely a façade of terrorists. You could not get into the psyche of the terrorist, but with Dina Araz, I realized I could get into her psyche-her background, her education, her family. That is what the audience is watching," Ms. Agdashloo said.

At the same time, Ms. Aghdashloo turned to bona fide terrorists living seemingly innocent moments as the inspiration for her character. "We all saw the surveillance tapes of the 9/11 terrorists as they went on their mission, proceeding through airport security. They were like any other ordinary people. I remember hearing one person comment that one of the terrorists wore too much cologne. Think, on that morning, he did not even forget to put on cologne. Outside they looked proper, but inside their adrenaline must have been pumping. So I have played my character like that ordinary person whose inner psyche has to be in constant conflict," she said.

This performance has been made all the more demanding given the unique elements in "24." Ms. Aghdashloo is faced with morphing her character from an evil terrorist to a doting mother in the matter of a single day.

"Our program is presented in real time. I have enjoyed the challenge of offering contradictory emotions over a 24-hour period,' Ms. Aghdashloo said. All the while, she is delivering these conflicting emotions with minimal guidance from the producers.

Mr. Katz noted that "these scripts are underwritten, with little direction. And there are many scenes without any dialogue and even during these scenes, Ms. Aghdashloo has been able to communicate all these feelings and emotions, letting the audience into Dina's head."

Others to Consider

By Lee Alan Hill

Special to TelevisionWeek

It has won the Emmy for outstanding variety, music or comedy series for the past two years, and coming off a season with a presidential election to lampoon and a war that is always fodder for comment, "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" has a good chance of making it three Emmys in a row.

"The show is in the national cultural zeitgeist," said Lauren Corrao, senior VP of original programs and development for Comedy Central, where the series has been a late-night mainstay since 1996. Mr. Stewart has hosted since 1999.

"This is the show where politicians, professors and authors go," said Bill Carroll, VP and director of programming for Katz Television Group. "It's not only the 'in place' to be, it's the show that the people you want to reach are watching.

"In particular, if politicians are not aware of what's happening on this show, they're out of the loop."

Ms. Corrao agreed, noting, "The Democratic Party seemed to know that early in the game. The Republican Party picked up on it. There are many people who tell us-and them-that they can't go to sleep each night without watching at least the first 10 minutes of 'The Daily Show.'"

"The Daily Show" offers 42 original weeks of Monday-to-Thursday half-hours per season. Ben Karlin is executive producer, Mr. Stewart and Stewart Bailey are co-exec