Issue Date: September 26, 2004
Can there be anything more frustrating for an avid TV watcher than the abrupt cancellation of a favorite show? It happened to me with both "Boston Public" and "The Restaurant." Why are network decision-makers so insensitive to their audience? Please don't say it's all about money and ratings.
John S. Terhes, Salem, Ore.
NBC exec Jeff Zucker, who makes such decisions, understands your frustration but tells us that, for programmers, "it is much harder to be patient today than even a few years ago, when there were only three or four networks. With the competition from cable and computers, it's tougher." Which means a new show may not get time to build an audience, and a flagging show gets the ax. Zucker assures us cancellation isn't decided lightly and reminds us that network chiefs have more info than viewers. "We've seen scripts and tapes of future episodes."
I was a fan of the short-lived series "Wonderfalls" on Fox. Any chance of its return?
Darcie Andrade, Fremont, Calif.
No. Imaginative as it was, with talking inanimate objects, "Wonderfalls" is gone for good. Try "Tru Calling" as a sub.
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Will Alicia Silverstone, who seemed so perfectly suited to television with last season's "Miss Match," go back to movies?
Jawanda Fields, Gary, Ind.
Yes. She was great in "Miss Match;" it just didn't take. Silverstone, 27, who made a splash on the big screen with 1995's "Clueless," is back there in November with the Queen Latifah comedy "Beauty Shop." She plays Lynn, the only white hairdresser in a hair salon catering to an all-black clientele.
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What are you watching?
We asked some small-screen stars what they watch (or TiVo) on their flat-screen plasmas.
Debra Messing: "Last Comic Standing."
Paige Davis: "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "Six Feet Under," "Clean Sweep."
Jesse L. Martin: "The Simpsons," Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," basketball (the Knicks).
Jill Hennessy: "Law & Order" -- "[I] still think that's one of the best shows on television."
David Spade: "South Park," "The Simpsons," CNN, "Blind Date," "SportsCenter," the History Channel ("only if someone is over so they think I am smart").
Chad Michael Murray: "The Simpsons," football.
Jerry O'Connell: "Cold Case Files," "The First 48."
Diane Neal: "The Simpsons," "The Apprentice."
Vivica A. Fox: "Sex and the City" (reruns on TBS), "Judge Judy," "SportsCenter."
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Is the actress who plays Dr. Susan Lewis on "ER" pregnant in real life?
Diane Russo, Jackson, N.J.
She was. Sherry Stringfield, 37, gave birth to son Milo, her second child with husband Larry Joseph, in mid-April. They have a 3-year-old, Phoebe, too. Stringfield was on maternity leave when the first two episodes of the new season were filmed, but she's back to work and will appear in the third.
I was shocked to hear "Alias" on ABC might not premiere until January. True?
Arielle Czerwinski, Arcata, Calif.
Yes. But ABC hopes you'll find a season without repeats worth the wait. It's a tactic ABC used a few years ago when it premiered "NYPD Blue" midseason. A January start means a show can run through May without airing those maddening midway reruns. Fox is doing the same thing with "24": It kicks off in January with uninterrupted weekly episodes and an all-new cast around Kiefer Sutherland. Also slated for midseason are numerous new shows that will replace anything deemed not working. The new"Law & Order: Trial by Jury," starring Jerry Orbach, may be the most anticipated.
I watch reruns of "NYPD Blue" and realize there's been a constant turnover of actors. My question is, why?
Douglas Anthony, Savannah, Ga.
"I don't think you can last 12 years with the same cast," says "Blue" creator Steven Bochco, who opened his drama's 12th season this week. "Creatively, you run out of gas. You have to periodically throw a bomb in there to give yourself fresh things to look at." Bochco tells us change wasn't always his choice, but only one person is irreplaceable on "Blue": Dennis Franz. "If Dennis got hit by a bus, I would do the 12th season Ñ but that's a doomsday scenario. If Dennis doesn't want to do the show, I don't want to do it." Bochco, 60, says changes matter even less on shows like Jerry Bruckheimer's "CSI," where "procedure is the star." If "CSI" were his show, Bochco says, he might've let George Eads and Jorja Fox, who reportedly wanted more money, walk: "I think they got bad advice. [There was] a certain arrogance that was misplaced and inappropriate."
Why was Ken Howard written out of NBC's "Crossing Jordan"?
Dolores Dzugan, Mount Prospect, Ill.
He wasn't. You'll see Howard, 60, who plays Jordan's dad, in the new season. NBC says he's never been a regular, so it's not odd that his character comes and goes as needed.
I've heard that Julian McMahon, star of FX's "Nip/Tuck," is up for the new James Bond film. True?
Jenny Brown, Stafford, Va.
That list just keeps getting longer, and, yes, the sexy Australian's name has been bandied about, as has Matt Damon's. Frankly, I'm still rooting for "King Arthur"'s Clive Owen.
What happened to HBO's "Carnivale"? I loved that show but haven't heard about new episodes.
Elizabeth Catoe, Mebane, N.C.
The strange series set in Dust Bowl-era America will be back, but not until winter. HBO expects to premiere it early next year.
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BIRTHDAYS
September 26: Serena Williams, 23; Olivia Newton-John, 56
September 27:Avril Lavigne, 20;
Gwyneth Paltrow, 32
September 28: Naomi Watts, 36;
Mira Sorvino, 37
September 29: Bryant Gumbel, 56;
September 30: Kieran Culkin, 22;
Johnny Mathis, 69
October 1: Mark McGwire, 41;
Julie Andrews, 69;
Jimmy Carter, 80
October 2: Kelly Ripa, 34
Sting, 53
With Gayle Jo Carter. Contributing: Frappa Stout.
 Ask Lorrie Lynch a question about a celeb!
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