Conan O'Brien 'Tonight Show' drama dominated press tour - andreikirilenkotattoo on TV

Back in Jersey, and I was so exhausted from the end of press tour that I neglected to post my press tour wrap-up column, which talks about how much of press tour was dominated by the still not quite ended Conan/Jay mess.

Gonna be a light posting schedule for the next couple of days, though I did get to see and/or write about a few things (tomorrow's "Friday Night Lights," and "Burn Notice" and "Parks and Recreation" on Thursday) while I was still in LA.

Press tour notebook: Renewals, mustaches and more

Before yesterday's latest turn in the Conan O'Brien mess, I wrote a notebook column on some press tour developments and anecdotes, which is now up on NJ.com.

I'll have a longer post or column about Nick Offerman as Ron F'ing Swanson (the funniest character on television right now) sometime after I'm back from tour. We talked for quite a while about the 'stache, breakfast foods and more.

Press tour: Live-blogging the final 'Lost' panel

Sorry for the short notice, but I'm going to be live-blogging the final "Lost" press tour panel, which is starting... now...

UPDATE: And we're done. Lots of good quotes, and even a bit of casting news at the end.

Simon Cowell leaving "American Idol" to launch "The X Factor" for Fox in America

The biggest news of the day at press tour - unless you count Bradley Whitford's Ron Swanson mustache - was Simon Cowell announcing his departure from "American Idol" after this season to launch "The X Factor" in America.

A day in the life of press tour: Fox

Over at NJ.com, I run through Fox's schedule for today at press tour. Should hopefully be a less intense day than the Leno-palooza was yesterday.

Press tour: NBC moving Jay Leno out of primetime, wants to keep Conan and Fallon

Over at NJ.com, I have a longer take on the NBC executive press tour session and the big mess with Jay, Conan and company.

Press tour: An NBC/critics showdown over Leno and Conan, or a letdown?

Over at NJ.com, I have my first real TCA-related post of this press tour up, in which I preview the NBC executive session later today and worry that it's not going to live up to the bloodbath we're all hyping it into.

It's press tour time!

For a fourth-place network, NBC has a funny way of dominating the news as I get ready for the start of the Television Critics Association press tour. The day before the summer tour six months ago, Ben Silverman announced he was quitting. (Later, his successor Angela Bromstad inadvertently gave us a lot of laughs when she suggested "I think that this has always been Ben's plan" to leave with the network doing much worse than when he arrived.)

And, of course, as critics like me were getting ready to go home and pack for today's start of the winter tour, news broke that NBC might be moving Jay Leno back to late night. (The picture above is Leno in disguise as a reporter for NBC's exec session at the summer '08 tour.)

So I've been a little too preoccupied to pen an update to my traditional guide to press tour, which means if you don't know the drill by now, you'll have to go read the old version.

For practical purposes, I'll be doing a lot of blogging and/or tweeting (depending on time, mood, etc.) about the sessions that I'm attending. Sometimes, I'll be saving material for a story down the road, or otherwise occupied doing a one-on-one interview, or busy writing reviews of the many, many shows that are (as always) inconveniently debuting during the winter tour. So I can only write as much as I can write.

And, as always, my actual blogging about what's airing on TV is going to suffer while I'm in California. If I've seen a show in advance (like "Chuck" or "Friday Night Lights" or the "How I Met Your Mother" 100th episode), I'll be writing something about it to go up after the episode ends. But for a lot of shows, you may have to wait a while, or just accept that, say, the ABC Wednesday comedies are going to be skipped for a week. I'm limited by time, time zone, and by the speed of the hotel's internet connection. So as with most things press tour, we'll be playing things by ear.

I'll be flying for a good chunk of today, then attending visits to the sets of "FlashForward" and "Community," so don't expect a lot out of me until CBS' day at the hotel begins tomorrow.

See you on the wrong coast...

TCA: I see dead series!

I'm back in Jersey, and even though it's muggy and overcast, it feels awfully good to be home. I'm taking tomorrow off to recuperate (give or take a couple of pre-written blog entries), but before I crash in my bed, a quick observation from the last night of tour...

In television, as with many industries, the hardest part is getting in the door, and once you're in, it becomes much easier to find other jobs within the industry. So you tend to see familiar faces from season to season, and show to show. And so it can be a fun party game at the press tour evening events to try to identify the guests based on their past series.

Rarely, though, have I been to a party like ABC's last night, where we not only had a bunch of people who had been on failed shows in recent years, but what felt like entire casts of failed shows, now spread out to new shows. We had half the cast of the American version of "Coupling": Jay Harrington (now on "Better Off Ted"), Lindsay Price (one of the witches of "Eastwick") and Sonya Walger (Penny on "Lost" and one of the leads on "Flash Forward"). (Not to mention, we got one of the stars of the UK "Coupling" (Jack Davenport, who's co-starring with Walger on "Flash Forward," which is damned confusing to the five of us who remember American "Coupling"). We had three stars of "The Class": Jesse Tyler Ferguson ("Modern Family"), Jon Bernthal ("Eastwick") and Andrea Anders ("Better Off Ted"). Before "Better Off Ted," Victor Fresco created the short-lived Fox sitcom "Life on a Stick," whose star, Zachary Knighton, is also on "Flash Forward."

Now, it's certainly possible that if I paid close enough attention, I could have come up with similar combinations at the other parties on this tour, or parties at recent tours. But because this was an especially long trip (tacking Comic-Con on to the front end), by the time we came to that last night, I think the only thing I could focus on was this parade of class (and "Class") reunions.

And that's why it's probably for the best that I'm back in Jersey, watching Yanks-Sawx and preparing to pass out.

Press tour pile-on for NBC - andreikirilenkotattoo on TV

Final column of the press tour looks at how early and often people from other networks took shots at NBC for both Ben Silverman's tenure and the Jay Leno plan.

Sorry I didn't blog more this time around, but I feel like I've gathered up a lot of good material (some from the press conferences, most from one-on-one interviews) that I'm going to be writing in the coming weeks once I'm home and my brain has stopped resembling tapioca pudding.

See ya when I'm back in Jersey.

TCA: News & notes from Fox's day

Over at NJ.com, I have a wrap-up from Fox's day at press tour, including The Observer showing up at the party, the fate of the remaining six "King of the Hill" episodes, why "Human Target" the show bears only a passing resemblance to "Human Target" the comic, and whether Chi McBride is broken up over the passing of "Pushing Daisies." (Hint: no.)

TCA: Paula Abdul is off 'American Idol,' but the four judge idea lives

Over at NJ.com, I have some Paula Abdul news from the Fox exec session: specifically, that while Fox is more than ready to move on without her, they seem to think "American Idol" will be better of with a fourth judge.

Sigh...

TCA: Jay Leno meets the press... again

Over at NJ.com, I have an account of Jay Leno's press conference to discus his new primetime show.

I'll say this about Leno: even though his comedy isn't my thing, and I doubt I'll watch his new show very much (and I'm irked that it's taking away so much real estate from scripted shows), the man knows how to work a room. He had the critics eating out of his hand.

Also, the question I asked about Letterman (mentioned in the NJ.com post) surprised him -- "I never thought of it like that before," he said -- and this is a guy who's been in showbiz so long he doesn't seem surprised by much. Maybe the rift between him and Dave is so vast that he couldn't even envision the two having something in common now.

TCA: NBC execs don't answer much

Over at NJ.com, I have an account of NBC's press tour executive session, which turned the two execs into artful dodgers of our questions.

TCA: Emmy time-shifting plan attracts controversy

Over at NJ.com, I have a write-up on last night's Emmy press tour panel, which was largely devoted to discussing the controversial plan to time-shift eight of the awards this year.

TCA: Craig Ferguson talks 'Late Late Show'

Over at NJ.com, I have some of the highlights of the Craig Ferguson press tour session, which was quite delightful, and far too crowded to be held in a satellite room instead of the main ballroom.

TCA: CBS president Nina Tassler zings NBC, repeatedly

Over at NJ.com, I have a brief take on CBS' press tour executive session, which was low on news (CBS being the most stable of the broadcast networks) but had a few good zingers at the expense of NBC.

TCA: A look at CBS' press tour schedule

Over at NJ.com, I run through CBS' schedule today and talk about the origins of that note from Mr. Ferguson.

And for those wondering, the latest blog logo is pictures of winners from this year's TCA Awards.

The TCA Awards turn 25 - andreikirilenkotattoo on TV

Over at NJ.com, I have a fuller account of last night's TCA Awards, including a photo of Jon Hamm making a rare public appearance where he went full-on Draper.

TCA: 'Battlestar Galactica,' 'Mad Men,' 'Big Bang Theory' win big at TCA Awards

If I've done this right, over at NJ.com you should be able to see the list of winners at the TCA Awards (including "Battlestar Galactica" as Program of the Year), which are being presented right now. In theory, I'll do a separate post tomorrow detailing the awards show itself, but since we're allowed to post the winners now, I'm doing so.