Ask Matt: The Closer, Damages, New Girl, Pan Am and More!

Kyra Sedgwick Send questions to askmatt@tvguidemagazine.com and follow me on Twitter!Question: I was wondering what you thought of the civil suit arc on The Closer this season. It's an interesting juxtaposition of morality on the one hand, and rooting for the characters on the other. It also shows all the different shades of grey in the law. If I heard about an incident in real life where police just dropped off someone in a neighborhood when they thought s/he would be killed, I'd be appalled. Yet I understand these characters' motives in this case, like all of them, and want to be on their side. The part of this arc I do love is Mark Pellegrino as Brenda's lawyer Gavin. I love the character and the nuances Pellegrino brings to playing him. Having only seen Pellegrino previously on Lost, and noting how different Gavin is from Jacob, I really appreciate what a fine actor he is. He deserves his own show. Unlike most of the other lawyer shows in recent years on TNT or USA, which I've skipped, I'd definitely watch a show centered around this character with this actor. - MyraMatt Roush: I'm not sure I'd want to see an entire series built around Pellegrino's flamboyant lawyer - some things are better in small doses - but he is undeniably a hoot, giving a most unexpected performance given his past work (although there was plenty of sly humor in his portrayal of Lucifer on Supernatural). I've enjoyed this summer's season of The Closer, and the lawsuit arc is a big part of the reason. It was such an outrageous thing for Brenda to do, even to a cold killer who deserved it, and few things are more compelling on a long-running show than to see a sympathetic hero deal with consequences for a bad act. She has tortured herself over this long enough that we can't help but root for her, and the conflict has tested many of her relationships within the unit, which is all to the dramatic good. I would like to see it resolved, so the final batch of episodes next year can concentrate on sending this terrific character out on a high.Want more Matt Roush? Subscribe to TV Guide Magazine now!Question: As Damages winds down its terrific fourth season for DirecTV, I have to wonder what the bar is for their measuring its success, given that ratings are obviously going to be rather limited on a subscriber-exclusive network. I know it was renewed for Seasons 4 and 5 at the same time, so we'll be getting another round no matter what, but what happens to the show then? How exactly does DirecTV quantify its success in order to determine if Season 6 is worth pursuing? If they decide to wrap it after Season 5, I hope the producers will at least be told this in advance so that they can plan out a great final arc for it. Also: iTunes has posted the full New Girl pilot for free, which I watched based on your enthusiasm for it and love. It's the first new fall show I'll be adding to my lineup this year, so thanks for that. I was a little surprised to see it go online so early, though, since it hasn't even aired yet. What is the business thinking behind that decision? It seems like this might have an averse effect on the numbers. - JakeMatt Roush: With Damages, I'm not sure how it's doing ratings-wise in DirecTV's universe. It has been a strong season creatively, and this week's finale is very satisfying. (Can't wait for non-subscribers to get a chance to see it.) For DirecTV, the Damages buy was a calculated step in its brand enhancement, putting another acclaimed but perennially low-rated show on their lineup to get the industry and a part of the TV audience talking. I'm assuming the next season will be the last, as DirecTV is now aiming to develop more original shows of its own, and I'd expect the producers to tie things up (unlike the tease of future conflicts this season ends on) even if they ultimately leave it open-ended just in case - because there's no reason to box these characters in. I was surprised (and grateful) when Damages got this two-season extension, but I'd be even more surprised if it went beyond that. A five-season run is pretty good, all things considered. Regarding the New Girl strategy, what you have to understand is the main challenge this time of year for network programming is for shows to get sampled. Opening night numbers aren't as critical for every TV show, if you can get word-of-mouth going as soon as possible and get early adapters - the type of people willing to go online to watch a show - on board. If this iTunes strategy gets more people talking about a show that already has a fairly high awareness and want-to-see factor, or so I've been told, then this will be seen as a win-win. And it's not like they're putting the entire season online before it airs.Question: I have been teetering back and forth as to whether Pan Am deserves space on my DVR. Matt, I know you are the guru of TV, but I'm not sure if you are familiar with a show called Mile High, which I believe ran for two seasons on the BBC. I found this show quite funny and entertaining minus a couple hard-to-understand accents. It seems that Pan Am is very similar to Mile High, but will never get away with some of the things that Mile High did. Your thoughts are greatly appreciated. - JeffreyMatt Roush: I'm not acquainted with Mile High - if the shows don't actually get imported to the U.S., I really don't have time to sample others' wares, much as I'd like - but from the way you describe it, it sounds a lot more outrageous than is Pan Am's intent. Pan Am is a nostalgic '60s period piece with a rather earnest approach to its soapy storytelling. I like it well enough to be recommending it in our Fall Preview issue - on stands now - and I love the way it looks, but it's purely escapist programming, not trying to push the envelope (at least not yet), so gauge your expectations accordingly.Question: Just wondering what is happening with Combat Hospital as the first season is ending. I didn't really think I would like it, and it started out a bit unevenly, but once they started focusing more on all the characters (rather than so heavily on Rebecca), it got better. I especially liked the episode when Colonel Marks and his friend were injured by an IED and they had to make a decision about who to save (his friend or a family brought into the hospital at the same time). Do you know if it has been renewed or is likely to be? I must say that I have really enjoyed TV this summer, with Curb Your Enthusiasm, Louie, Breaking Bad, True Blood, etc; I wish the fall looked as promising. - DawnMatt Roush: I wish I could give you a promising answer. Combat Hospital hasn't been renewed yet, and given that its summer run was cut an episode short, it isn't likely to be. The ratings were weak and it didn't have much critical or media buzz, so that's a pretty fatal combination. You're right, though, that much of this summer of TV has been a rush.Question: I have several questions about the future of some of the summer series, mostly on the major networks. They tend to be more fickle, and spend the summer just "burning off" shows, so it's hard to tell their future. I've really enjoyed Flashpoint, and I know you wrote earlier that there was some confusion about its future on CBS. Will it be back, and if so, has anything cleared up about on what network? Next: Friday Night Lights. THAT is how to do a series finale. Excellent show! I had one question, though, and none of my friends seems to know either: Who's the new head coach of the Dillon Panthers? They showed Billy Riggins on the field, but he's too "green," I'd think, to take the top spot. And that damn-fool Buddy Garrity driving around in a golf cart. No way he's a coach. Good as a booster and fundraiser, but certainly not a coach. So was this a kind of "teaser" for the rumored movie/sequel? It certainly wasn't at all clear. Finally, The Glades' season finale was great (love the show!), but I was worried that it all seemed too happy, no cliff-hanger. A&E is one of those networks I find hard to read on what's been renewed. What are you hearing about it? - KathyMatt Roush: Flashpoint has finished its run on CBS for now, but will be airing this fall on affiliates of the ION network. Not sure what the mix will be between new and old episodes, and can't say if CBS will pick it up again. For the time being, figure you'll be watching it on ION. And with Friday Night Lights, I haven't a clue who's now coaching at Dillon. I was so caught up in the Taylors' story, and so gratified at their safe landing elsewhere, that it didn't really occur to me to ask. (Thoughts? Go to comments.) As much as I loved the show to the end, I honestly hope they scratch the idea of a movie sequel. It ended perfectly, beautifully. Let it be. And while A&E hasn't officially renewed The Glades for a third season as far as I know, I'll be surprised if it's dropped. A&E is still building its inventory of scripted dramas, and this enjoyable show provides a solid foundation.Question: The Rescue Me finale was fantastic! I liked how Lou's letter was explaining how the whole "group" needs to stay together, and at the end you see that while Tommy was talking to the probies. Another great series gone with a great finale, and that does not come together often! (For Example, Heroes or The X-Files.) Any word on Denis Leary's next TV series he will either work or produce on? - MikeMatt Roush: The last I heard, Denis Leary was working on adapting the British series Sirens, about irreverent paramedics (sounds perfect), as a half-hour project for USA Network, which is looking to vary its programming a bit. Couldn't agree more about the Rescue Me finale, which I found very satisfying - and even more so when I went to FX's screening last week in the company of some of FDNY's finest, who loved it.Question: I'm beginning to feel like every TV show is becoming an infomercial with their blatant product placement. I'm a huge fan of the TNT and USA summer shows, but find it a little distracting when a cast member is sharing the benefits of a product smack dab in the middle of an episode. Case in point, Jill (Royal Pains) having her Prius self-park on the streets of Manhattan. Another example is lab assistant Daniel (The Glades) walking around munching on a bag of Reese's Pieces. I've even noticed that House Hunters has jumped on this annoying bandwagon with frequent close-ups of a Chevy Traverse driven by the realtor, including zooming in on the Chevrolet logo, as well as the many bells and whistles it offers. I'm pretty sure that not every realtor across the U.S. is driving a Traverse. I hope that with the large dollars my favorite shows are receiving for this annoying new trend, it will help to save costs and keep them on the air. What do you think of this new advertising ploy? - TracieMatt Roush: Some do it better than others. Even a show like The Closer can get clumsy about it, as in a recent episode where they were all passing Twizzlers around the office as they observed an interrogation. (Now if it had been limited to Brenda, given her candy fixation, it might have felt more organic.) Following that scene with an ad for the same project felt like overkill, and I'm not sure that's a good thing for a sponsor. But you seem to acknowledge the reality that these kinds of deals are helping cover the high production costs for many series - and this is really nothing new in reality-type shows - so I have come to accept it as a necessary evil and the price of doing business, especially at a time when technology conspires to allow many of us to avoid watching the actual ads themselves. They've got to pay for this stuff somehow.Question: Lifetime announced that Army Wives would be returning for a sixth season in the "winter of 2012" - but, though fans continue to ask, Lifetime has not clarified (on the Army Wives homepage or Facebook page) whether winter 2012 refers to this coming January/February, or November/December 2012. I feel like it makes a huge difference if they are referring to the latter (as that's a really big gap in between seasons), so I can't understand why they aren't specifying. Moreover, it seems strange that they would announce that a season would return during the winter. Isn't it more common for networks to classify a series' return as having a projected spring, summer or fall return? Did Lifetime choose to announce a "winter" return because they haven't decided when they are going to air the sixth season? Do you have any information regarding any of this? - CareyMatt Roush: I'm confused by your confusion, although I will concede that cable scheduling can be very confusing, especially for shows like this where the network has shifted its start date from summer to spring from season to season with little consistency. But the truth is that Lifetime hasn't yet set a premiere date - there are any number of strategic factors involved in scheduling at various times of the year - so they have nothing yet to tell fans or even the occasional inquiring journalist. Also, it's hardly unusual for shows to launch during the winter, though it's less likely for a show to air its regular season during the holiday weeks of November and December, so if the show does return in the winter, I'd put odds on it being in the first quarter of 2012.Question: What a wonderful job you do. I so look forward to reading your column every Monday. I have several questions, hope you can answer all of them. This past weekend I did a marathon watch of Alphas and Against the Wall. Really liked both shows and I was not expecting too much for either one. Alphas' pilot episode was not that great and I almost did not watch any more of them, then gave it a chance and it kept improving each week. What is the status on this show? Now, Against the Wall was really good, I like it much better than Alphas. Have you heard anything on this show? Oh, and one last show that I have been watching is The Protector with Ally Walker. Love this show, so nice to see her back on TV. I have always thought that she is such a natural actress. Thank goodness for these networks that give us something to watch during the summer instead of reality shows. - BobbieMatt Roush: Well, thank you. Here's the good and bad news. Alphas has been renewed for a second season, which was not a surprise. It's too early to tell for Against the Wall. But it's curtains for The Protector, which has been canceled and won't return once it finishes its current first-season run. I'm a fan of Ally Walker, but felt that show never lived up to her abilities and was just too ordinary to ever break out.Question: Is it possible that those who found the season finale of Bones a sham is because one episode has Bones on the bed being comforted by Booth and the next Bones tells Booth she is pregnant and he is the father? It seems to me that people fail to remember that episodes are not day-to-day events but have time frames that could span a week or months. If one kept close watch, the clues were there. So please, Matt, tell Hart Hanson that even though most fans wanted an obvious romance with some bed time, it was done well and we are looking forward to a great new season. My question is this: How much attention do producers give to the expectations of loyal fans such as myself and thousands of others who wanted Bones and Booth together? Also: I have always wondered what does the term spoilers really mean. And I saw a picture of Bones and Booth with them holding a baby and it said it's a girl! Is that true! - AnneMatt Roush: Consider Hart Hanson told. It's not like he hasn't heard it all. I'm not particularly keen on stoking this controversy again - they've established the relationship, do we really need to see the deed? - but I will say that producers of shows like Bones tend to always be aware of fan reaction. Hanson is a very active, and reactive, tweeter, for what that's worth. But it's their show to develop as they please, and to tell their stories on their own timetable with their own priorities, and that's the way it should be. I'd be as upset thinking fans were calling the creative shots as if network and studio executives were meddling more than they should. Question: Since NBC's midseason show Smash is about the making of a Broadway musical: Is this by any chance based on Garson Kanin's novel of the same name (and setting)? If so, are they using just the title, or are they actually using the novel as a basis for the characters and plot? - RickMatt Roush: The milieu is the same, but the story and characters are all new. Or as new as any series can be that goes behind the scenes of putting on a show, with larger-than-life and archetypal personalities involved in the writing, staging, choreography and performing (including auditioning). I read Kanin's book so many years ago the details have faded, but anyone who enjoyed that is likely to get a big kick out of this lavish production. I sure hope the networks' big midseason swings pay off.That's all for now. Keep sending your comments and questions to askmatt@tvguidemagazine.com, and in the meantime, follow me on Twitter!Subscribe to TV Guide Magazine now!

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Discovery sets docu premiere

"American Underworld" Discovery's investigative show "American Underworld," located and mostly captured pics of by Newsweek and New You are able to Occasions photojournalist Mark Allen Manley premieres Monday, Sept. 19, at 10 p.m. Hourlong is professional created by Lisa Andreae on her shingle the Incubator, with Cameo Wallace creating for Discovery. The cabler has set a preliminary run of three "Underworld" segs. The very first features Johnson's in-person interviews with meth cooks in rural Tennessee and homemade steroid producer-providers. The 2nd concentrates on vehicle thievery in Northern California, as the third examines the sex trade in Chicago. Manley stated that he's happy to have finally found a network prepared to give you the legal framework essential to offer the project other nets balked in the thorny issues elevated by Johnson's contacts. The series, Manley stated, needs time to work to create, and often promising projects don't always pan out, alluding to some potential story about "these men who have been selling fully automatic rifles with laser sights, everything, about the roads of Manhattan. And that we would do (a chapter about the subject), however the lawyers stated no, because my contact stated, 'You've reached be up here Tuesday.' After which I'd prior understanding." Contact Mike Thielman at mike.thielman@variety.com

Nick Stoller Comedy Close To Landing At CBS With Put Pilot Commitment

EXCLUSIVE: Feature writer director and Undeclared alum Nick Stoller is returning to television with Hot Mess, a single-camera project that attracted multiple bidders and is now in negotiations to go to CBS with a rich put pilot commitment. Stoller is writing and attached to direct the comedy, from 20th Century Fox TV and Chernin Entertainment. Loosely based on Stoller’s real-life experiences, Hot Mess is a twenty-something ensemble comedy about a guy who gets his heart broken by his girlfriend and now has to work one cubicle away from her. Stoller is executive producing with Peter Chernin and Katherine Pope. CBS’ aggressive play for Hot Mess underscores the network’s recent shift toward younger, edgier comedies with shows like How I Met Your Mother and new fall entry Two Broke Girls as well as the decision to replace Charlie Sheen with Ashton Kutcher on Two and a Half Men. It marks a rare venturing into the single-camera format for the network, known for its brand of multi-camera sitcoms. The sale also continues comedy projects’ hot streak this summer as a slew of half-hour pitches have landed big commitments. Stoller is a member of the Judd Apatow’s gang. He got his break on Apatow’s Fox comedy series Underclared, and like his boss, he segued to movies right after. UTA-repped Stoller did several films with Apatow, including Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which Stoller directed, and its offshoot Get Him to the Greek, which he wrote and directed. Stoller’s feature credits also include Yes Man and the upcoming The Muppets, which he co-wrote, and The Five-Year Engagement, which he co-wrote and directed. His co-writer on both was another frequent collaborator and Apatow cohort, Jason Segel, who is also at CBS as a star on How I Met Your Mother.

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Nike release To the near future footwear!

Nike have really, non-hoaxingly, put in production Marty McFly's self-lacing footwear from To the near future II! After tease Tweets from producer Frank Marshall earlier within the week, Nike Boss Mike Parker officialy revealed the environment Mag footwear together with this news that the limited run of 1500 is going to be sold on the 10-day period on the devoted eBay site, with all of internet proceeds visiting the Michael J. Fox foundation.Fox stated, "This project is exciting in my experience since it includes three very passionate audiences: The Parkinson's community, the sneakerheads and also the To the near future fans."The footwear have showed up a couple of years sooner than the date Marty picks them up within the films (October 21st 2015) but we are not worrying.Hoverboards now, please!Are you dealing with another excited bidders to obtain a set of these bad boys? The other movies uses imaginary devices that you want you can own? Tell us within the comments below!

Movie Lit Agent Jumping To ICM From UTA

EXCLUSIVE: Film literary agent Doug Manley is predicted to participate ICM from UTA now. To date, a lot of the movement remains from ICM to UTA. Manley’s client list includes Vanessa Taylor (co-executive producer of Cinemax’s Wager On Thrones and author from the new the new sony’s approaching Great Hope Springs with Meryl Streep), director Frank Coraci (The Wedding Singer, Zookeeper), multi-hyphenate Nick Cannon, author Jordan Cahan (My Nearest Friend’s Girl) who recently offered an plane pilot to NBC, film author Michael Gordon (300), and author Steve Leff.

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Ask an Adult-Film Superstar: Joanna Angel Guest Reviews Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star

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Postcard from Venice: Soderbergh's Contagion - Catch the Fever! But Try Chicken with Plums at Your Own Risk

After the freshness and deceptive simplicity of their debut, the 2007 animated feature Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud’s Poulet aux Prunes — or Chicken with Plums — showing in competition here, is something of a disappointment. The cast isn’t the problem: The movie stars Mathieu Amalric as an embittered musician living in late-1950s Tehran, and Maria de Medeiros as his beleaguered but adoring wife; Chiara Mastroianni has a tiny part, and the fine Moroccan-born actor Jamel Debbouze appears in small dual roles. But the material just doesn’t resonate, as Persepolis did. Persepolis was based on Satrapi’s marvelous graphic memoir of growing up in Iran at the time of the Islamic Revolution, a straightforward, bracing and funny piece of work that lent itself beautifully to the elegance of black-and-white animation. Chicken with Plums is a live-action film (based on another of Satrapi’s graphic novels from 2004), and Satrapi and Paronnaud aren’t as surefooted with this medium. But more significantly, neither the story nor the characters give us enough to hold onto. They’re storybook figures rather than people we can really come to care about, and in some cases, their behavior is so bad that it’s hard to feel much sympathy for them at all. Amalric plays Nasser-Ali, a formerly great violinist who no longer has the will to play, partly because he can’t find the right instrument. But the greater issue, we learn, is that years ago he lost the love of his life, a woman named, quite symbolically, Irne. Now he’s married to Medeiros’s Faranguisse, who has borne him two children and who cares for him deeply. But after suffering years of verbal abuse and neglect, even she has reached the end of her rope. Chicken with Plums takes place in the eight days before Nasser-Ali’s death, and tells the story of his rather miserable life. Some of his suffering you can buy — this is Mathieu Amalric we’re talking about, an actor who, particularly in the movies made by Arnaud Desplechin, has shown a knack for playing flawed, troubled, jittery characters that are nevertheless easy to connect with. But Nassir-Ali comes off mostly as a spoiled, bitter complainer — and, as his wife reminds him, he does moon around the house all day while she has to go out to work and take care of the family. Lost love or no, Nassir-Ali has simply never made a go at life. What’s more, the filmmaking here is stylized and aggressively whimsical, reminiscent of the filmmaking of Jean-Pierre Jeunet (director of the wonderful A Very Long Engagement and the far less wonderful Amelie). There’s some too-cute magic realism going on here, as when Nassir-Ali dreams of Sophia Loren and we see a giant pair of brassiere-clad breasts moving toward him, just inviting him to bury his face in there. There’s a faint air of melancholy hovering over Chicken with Plums, and while that aura shouldn’t be heavier, it could be better defined. The metaphor embedded in the story — the idea of one’s home country as a lost lady love — is a basic and potentially potent one. Does it really need to be cutesified? Stephen Soderbergh’s epidemic thriller Contagion, showing out of competition here at the festival, is a forthright, effective piece of filmmaking, even if it’s front-loaded so that most of its power (and its horror) is clustered in the first third. I won’t go into too much detail here, as my colleague Alison Wilmore will be here with a full review when the movie opens next week. But I will say that I was surprised by how eerily suspenseful the picture is, beginning with its image of a sniffly, sickly-looking Gwyneth Paltrow, en route to her home in Minneapolis after a business trip to Hong Kong — she looks like she’s got something that she won’t be able to kick with a few doses of DayQuil, and boy, does that turn out to be the case. Soderbergh has assembled a cast of biggies here, including Marion Cotillard, Kate Winslet, Jude Law and Matt Damon (who has a moment early in the picture that’s off the charts, an expression of grief so elemental that it nearly derails the movie). But Soderbergh also does well by some other terrific actors who haven’t had any major roles of late, including Jennifer Ehle as a take-charge researcher and Elliott Gould in a small but heroic turn. Gould got the biggest laugh I’ve heard at the festival this year, when he shoos away a semi-crackpot blogger played by Law: “Blogging isn’t writing,” he says. “It’s graffiti with punctuation.” That line was tailor-made for an audience of old-school professional journalists and critics — many of whom, out of necessity, blog for their outlets as well. We’re wrestling with our own epidemic, but at least we can laugh about it. Read more of Stephanie Zacharek’s 2011 Venice Film Festival coverage here.