The TCA Awards turn 25

Alan Sepinwall – The Star-Ledger

In the summer of 1985, the members of the Television Critics Association began handing out their own awards to their favorite TV shows. At the time, I’m told, there was a lot of debate over whether this would make the TCA too much a part of the industry it covers, and that first awards ceremony was a brisk 20 minutes, with Career Achievement winner Grant Tinker the only winner invited to attend.

Saturday night, the TCA held its 25th annual awards show. By now, it’s become standard practice for all the winners to have some representative there. And because only the winners are invited — and because the show, other than one disastrous experiment in the early ’90s, isn’t shown on television — it’s a low-key, tension-free affair that can celebrate work overlooked by traditional showbiz awards shows.

Yes, our best drama series winner “Mad Men” cleaned up at last year’s Emmys (and likely will this year, too), and the Emmys also beat us to the punch on actor Bryan Cranston of “Breaking Bad,” who was our winner for individual achievement in drama. But the TCA’s Program of the Year winner was “Battlestar Galactica,” which never got any kind of love from the science fiction-fearing members of the television Academy. And both the comedy series and comedy individual awards went to CBS’ “The Big Bang Theory” — the latter, specifically, to the hilarious Jim Parsons as Sheldon, who was nominated for an Emmy this year but is probably a longshot.

Other winners included HBO’s “True Blood” for new program, HBO’s “The Alzheimer’s Project” for achievement in news and information, Nickelodeon’s “Yo Gabba Gabba” for children’s programming, HBO’s “Grey Gardens” as the best movie or mini-series, Betty White for career achievement, and “ER” for the Heritage Award, a sort of career achievement for series (which, in a quirk of the voting, has almost always gone to a landmark series immediately after its final season).

The people from “Mad Men” (star Jon Hamm made a rare public appearance with his hair slicked back like Don Draper, explaining sheepishly that sometimes it’s easier to get it under control that way) are used to the love affair from the critics by now. But what’s often interesting at the TCA Awards — and what was a running theme at this year’s show — is seeing how tightly performers and producers hold on to bad reviews from the past, and how grateful (or, at least, relieved) they are to be getting praise from the critics instead.

At the 2006 TCA Awards, “The Office” star Steve Carell got big laughs by reading excerpts from a particularly vicious review of his performance in the short-lived Tim Curry sitcom “Over the Top,” which climaxed with this passage:

“I have stood in a freezer full of dead people at the morgue. I have seen a man’s scalp pulled back over his nose. I’ve even seen 35 minutes of Ellen DeGeneres’s ‘Mr. Wrong.’ But I can now honestly say that until Steve Carell’s turn in the premiere of ‘Over the Top,’ I have never known true horror.”

That speech was shown again in a clip reel at this year’s awards, as was one by “My Name Is Earl” creator Greg Garcia, where he said of his previous show, the critically-loathed “Yes Dear,” that if you don’t have the critics on your side, the best you can hope for is to run for six seasons and go into syndication.

This year’s host, E!’s Chelsea Handler, spent part of her monologue rehashing a brutal review she got for “Chelsea Lately,” and when it was Betty White’s turn to accept her award, she admitted that she still had a copy of a nasty review from her very first sitcom, 1952′s “Life with Elizabeth.”

“But I don’t look at it anymore,” she added.                                                                           

“Big Bang Theory” co-creator Chuck Lorre — who opened his speech by saying he wanted to speak from the heart, “But my heart was killed 20 years ago on ‘Roseanne’” — has had an publicly contentious relationship with the critics over his other CBS hit, “Two and a Half Men.” But he seemed genuinely touched by the critics being on his side for once, using words I can’t repeat in this column (but that Lorre can probably use on “Two and a Half Men”) to say he would be forever in our debt.

Hollywood Bringing Heavy-Hitters To San Diego Comic-Con

Comic-Con 2009

THU, JULY 23 -SUN, JULY 26      …..    PREVIEW NIGHT: WED, JULY 22

SAN DIEGO
Convention Center
111 W. Harbor Dr.
San Diego, CA 92101

    The annual Comic-Con is fast approaching, and this year’s event, taking place from July 23-26, shines a brighter spotlight than ever on Hollywood.

  Disney on Thrusday announced its heavy-hitter lineup — John Lasseter, Robert Zemeckis and Tim Burton — while networks and cable, from CBS’ “The Big Bang Theory” and USA’s “Burn Notice,” are also well-represented.

 Below is a schedule of events — many details of which are still to be determined

 PANELS

WEDNESDAY, JULY 22

“Human Target,” “V” and “Vampire Diaries” (6 p.m.-9 p.m., room TBD): Full pilot previews.

THURSDAY, JULY 23

Summit Entertainment: “Astro Boy” (10:15-11:15 a.m., Room 6BCF) Astro Boy is an all-new CG-animated feature film based on the classic manga about a young robot with incredible powers and his adventure-filled journey in search of his identity and destiny. Director David Bowers, producer Maryanne Grager, and stars Freddie Highmore and Kristen Bell will debut exclusive footage and answer questions.

TheOneRing.net: “The Hobbit” (10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m., Room 7AB) Chris Pirrotta, Larry Curtis, Cliff Broadway and other from TheOneRing.net will take you behind the scenes of the latest news, announcements, and rumors pertaining to the Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro production of The Hobbit.

Disney 3-D Panel (11 a.m-12:30 p.m., Room TBD) With Robert Zemeckis, Tim Burton, Sean Bailey, Steve Lisberger. Concept art, trailers, footage of “A Christmas Carol,” “Alice in Wonderland” and “Tron.”

“The Middleman” (11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m., Room 6A). Panel with Matt Keeslar, Natalie Morales, Mary Pat Gleason, Britt Morgan, Jake Smollett, Javier Grillo-Marxuach and cast reading of lost 13th episode script, “The Doomsday Armageddon Apocalypse”

Richard Hatch: “Battlestar” Retrospective (12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m., Room 6A) Moderated by actor/author Richard Hatch, with composer Bear McCreary, writer/producer Michael Tayler, scientific advisor Kevin Grazier and special guests, this panel provides a review and discussion of the past four seasons of “Battlestar Galactica.”

“Dante’s Inferno” (12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m., Room 8. Jonathan Knight, Ash Huang, Brandon Auman, Christos Gage and Diego Latorre talk about the adaptation of the epic poem into pop culture: a video game, an animated feature, and a comic series.
   20th Century Fox and James Cameron present “Avatar” (12:45 p.m.-2 p.m., Hall H) Cameron, Jon Landau and cast members will show the first public screening of footage in 3D from the movie, which debuts in December.

Spotlight on Kevin Eastman (1 p.m.-2  p.m., Room 5AB) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle co-creator Kevin Eastman talks about his TMNT days and shares sneak peeks and behind-the-scenes teasers for his upcoming animated film projects.

Sony Pictures Animation: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2:00-3:00 p.m., Room 6BCF) Bill Hader, Anna Faris, Andy Samberg, Bobb’e J. Thompson, Chriss Miller, Phil Lord discuss the upcoming Sony/Columbia movie.

Summit Entertainment (2:15 p.m. -3:15 p.m., Hall H)
Summit Entertainment presents a sneak peek of some of its upcoming major film releases such as “Astro Boy,” “Sorority Row” and “The Twilight Saga: New Moon.”

DVD/Blu-ray Producers 2009 (2:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m., Room 7AB)
Bill Hunt, Adam Jahnke and Todd Doogan (of The Digital Bits.com), talk about the latest DVD and Blu-ray developments with special-edition producers like Robert Meyer Burnett, Laura Gross, Charles de Lauzirika, David Naylor and Cliff Stephenson.

Masters of the Web (3 p.m.-4 p.m., Room 32AB)
Director Kevin Munroe (“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”) moderates a panel of representatives from top genre and movie websites such as Movieweb.com and Latinoreview.com. Brandon Routh and Sam Hungintgon join to preview a sneak peek of their new film “Dead of Night.”
 

“Robot Chicken,” “Titan Maximum” (3 p.m.-4 p.m., Room 6A). Panel with Seth Green, Matthew Senreich, Tom Root, Doug Goldstein, Chris McKay, Breckin Meyer, Kevin Shinick, Mike Fasolo, Dan Milano.

J. Michael Straczynski: Professional Writing (3:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m., Room 7AB)
The “Changeling” writer discusses the steps and tools needed to be a professional writer.

Joe Dante: “The Hole” (3:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m., Hall H)  Joe Dante  and Haley Bennett discuss their new film and working in 3D.

Entertainment Weekly: Wonder Women: Female Power Icons in Pop Culture (3:45 p.m. -4:45 p.m., Ballroom 20) EW will moderate a conversation with Sigourney Weaver, Elizabeth Mitchell, Kristen Bell  and others about the actresses who have redefined the rules and the female characters that have shattered the glass ceiling for all women. 
 

Cartoon Network Comedy: Original Animation (4:15 p.m. – 5:15 p.m., Room 6A). Panel on “Chowder,” “The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack,” ”Adventure Time With Finn and Jake.”

Terry Gilliam’s “The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus” (4:45 p.m. -5:15 p.m., Hall H) The director of “Time Bandits” and “Brazil” introduces his new film starring Christopher Plummer, Johnny Depp, Heath Ledger, Colin Farrell, Jude Law, Verne Troyer, Tom Waits, and Lily Cole. 
 

“Dexter” (5 p.m.-6 p.m. Ballroom 20)

Overture Pictures: “Pandorum” (5:15 p.m.-5:45 p.m., Hall H) Actors Ben Foster, Cung Le  and Antje Traue discuss their new thriller about two crewmembers on a seemingly abandoned spacecraft.

Kick-Ass (5:45 p.m.-6:45 p.m., Hall H) Director Matthew Vaughn, Nicolas Cage and Christopher Mintz-Plasse and comic co-creator John Romita Jr. present world premiere footage from the new film, based on Mark Millar’s bestselling comic.

Focus Features: “Thirst” (6:30 p.m.-7:00 p.m., Hall H) Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook discusses his film, which won the Prix Du Jury (Jury Prize) at the 2009 Cannes International Film Festival, and his career.

Robotech Industry Panel (6:45 p.m.-7:45 p.m., Room 6A) Tommy Yune, director of “Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles” and Steve Yun, writer of “Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles,” discuss upcoming Robotech releases in the wake of the announcement of the live-action feature film.

Comedy Central’s “Drawn Together Movie” Roundtable (7 p.m-8 p.m., Room 6BCF) Co-creators Matt Silverstein and Dave Jeser and stars from the show discuss “The Drawn Together Movie” and host a roundtable discussion.

Dr. Horrible’s Sing-along Blog (8:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m., Room 6A) The California Browncoats host a screening of the original three acts, followed immediately by “Commentary! The Musical.”

“Green Lantern”: First Flight World Premiere (8 p.m.-9:30 p.m., Ballroom 20) Warner Home Video, Warner Premiere, DC Comics and Warner Bros. Animation present the world premiere of “Green Lantern: First Flight.” “Lantern,” due out July 28, stars Christopher Meloni, is directed by Lauren Montgomery and written by Emmy Award winner Alan Burnett.

Halloween Comes Early: Trick ‘r Treat Screening (9:30 p.m.-12:00 a.m., Ballroom 20) Writer-director Michael Dougherty screens his new movie, which is preceded by a panel. Ain’t It Cool News mogul Harry Knowles will moderate the panel, which features Dougherty and cast members Anna Paquin, Tahmoh Penikett, and Brian Cox.

“Burn Notice” (room & time TBD) Panel with Bruce Campbell, Seth Peterson, Ben Shenkman, Jay Karnes, Matt Nix, Alfredo Barrios Jr., Michael Shanks

“Legend of the Seeker” (room & time TBD)

“Psych” (room & time TBD) Panel with James Roday, Dule Hill, Corbin Bernsen, Maggie Lawson, Timothy Omundson, Chris Henze and Kelly Kulchak. Scrpt-to-screen demonstration documenting the process of creating an episode.

“Twilight: New Moon” Panel (room & time TBD)

FRIDAY, JULY 24

“Batman: The Brave and the Bold” (animated) (10 a.m.-11 a.m., Room 6DE) Panel with Diedrich Bader, Sam Register. Screening of “Mayhem of Music Meister” episode featuring voice of Neil Patrick Harris.

“Stargate Universe” (10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m., Ballroom 20) Panel with Robert Carlyle, Brian J. Smith, Elyse Levesque, David Blue, Alaina Huffman, Jamil Walker Smith, Ming-Na, Brad Wright, Robert Cooper

Lucasfilm Panel: “Star Wars: The Clone Wars”: Building the Universe (11 a.m.-Noon, Room 7AB)

“The Prisoner” (11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., room TBD)

“Caprica”/”Battlestar Galatica”: The Plan (11:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m., Ballroom 20) Panel with Esai Morales, Edward James Olmos, Ronald Moore, David Eick and Jane Espenson

“FlashForward” (11:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m., Room 6A)

Lucasfilm Panel: “Star Wars: The Clone Wars”: Behind the Mic (Noon-1 p.m., Room 7AB)

“The Middle” (Noon-1 .p.m., Hilton Bayside Indigo Ballroom). Patricia Heaton. Sneak preview.

Disney Animation Panel (12:45 p.m. Room TBD ) Panel with Hayao Miyazaki, John Lasseter, Lee Unkrich, Kirk Wise, Ron Clements, John Muske (“Toy Story 3,” “Prep & Landing,” “The Princess And The Frog” and “Ponyo.”)

“The Big Bang Theory” (1 p.m.-2 p.m.,Ballroom 20) Panel with Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Chuck Lorre

“24″ (2:15 p.m.-3 p.m., Ballroom 20) Panel with Kiefer Sutherland,
Mary Lynn Rajskub, Anil Kapoor, Freddie Prinze Jr., Katee Sackhoff, Howard Gordon

“Past Life” (2:15 p.m.- 3:15 p.m., Room 6A) Panel with Kelli Giddish, Nicholas Bishop, Ravi Patel, David Hudgens

“Bones” (3 p.m.-3:45 p.m., Ballroom 20) Panel with Emily Deschanel,
David Boreanaz, Hart Hanson

“Eureka” (3:15 p.m.-4:15 p.m., Room 6BCF) Panel with Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Erica Cerra, Neil Grayston, Jaime Paglia

“Dollhouse” (4 p.m.-6 p.m. Ballroom 20) Panel with Eliza Dushku, Joss Whedon. Screening of episode “Epitaph One”

The BBC Panel: The Mighty Boosh (4:45 p.m. – 5:45 p.m. Room 6A) Panel with Julian Barratt, Noel Fielding, Michael Fielding, Rich Fulcher, Dave Brown

Lucasfilm Panel: The Star Wars Spectacular (5:15 p.m.- 6:15 p.m. Hall H)

“The Box” Panel (room & time TBD)

“District 9″ Panel (with Peter Jackson) (room & time TBD)

SATURDAY, JULY 25

“Chuck” (10 a.m.-11 a.m., Ballroom 20) Panel with Zachary Levi, Yvonne Strahovski, Josh Schwartz

“Eastwick” (10:15 a.m.-11:15 a.m., Room 6A) Panel with Rebecca Romijn,
Lindsay Price, Jaime Ray Newman. Full pilot screening

“Lost” (11 a.m.-noon, Hall H) Panel with Carlton Cuse, Damon Lindelof

“Family Guy” (11:15 a.m.-Noon, Ballroom 20) Panel with Seth Green, Mila Kunis, Seth MacFarlane

Cartoon Network Action Adventure Animation: “Ben 10″ (11:45 a.m.-12:45
p.m., Room 6DE) Panel with Alex Winter, Ryan Kelley, Galadriel Stineman, Nathan Keyes, Alyssa Diaz, Glenn Murakami, Dwayne McDuffie, Yuri Lowenthal

“The Cleveland Show” (Noon-12:45 p.m., Ballroom 20) Panel with Sana’a Lathan, Kevin Michael Richardson, Seth MacFarlane, Mike Henry, Rich Appel

“Sanctuary” (12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m., Bayside Hilton Indigo Room) Panel with Amanda Tapping, Robin Dunne, Martin Wood and Damian Kindler

“Futurama” (1 p.m.-1:45 p.m., Ballroom 20) Panel with Billy West, Katey Sagal, John DiMaggio, Maurice LaMarche, Matt Groening, David Cohen

“Glee” (1:30 p.m.-3 p.m., Bayside Hilton Indigo Room) Panel with Matthew Morrison, Lea Michele, Cory Monteith. New episode screening

“The Simpsons” (1:45 p.m.-2:30 p.m., Ballroom 20) Panel with Matt Groening, Al Jean, Matt Selman, Mike Anderson

“Warehouse 13″ (2:15 p.m.-3:1 5 p.m., Room 6A) Panel with Eddie McClintock, Joanne Kelly, Saul Rubinek, Allison Scagliotti, Jack Kenny, David Simkins

“V” (2:45 p.m.-3:45 p.m., Ballroom 20) Panel with Elizabeth Mitchell, Scott Wolf, Scott Peters, Jeffrey Bell

“Fringe” (4 .m.-5 p.m., Ballroom 20) Panel with Anna Torv, John Noble

“Human Target” (4:45 p.m.-5:45 p.m., Room 6BCF) Panel with Mark Valley, Chi McBride, Jackie Earle Haley

“Vampire Diaries” (6 p.m.-7 p.m.,Room 6BCF) Panel with Ian Somerhalder, Paul Wesley, Nina Dobrev, Kevin Williamson

Adult Swim: Series Development and “The Venture Bros.” (6 p.m.-7:15 p.m., Room 6DE) Panel with Nick Weidenfeld, Matt Harrigan, Jackson Publick, Doc Hammer, Jon Schnepp, James Urbaniak, Mike Sinterniklaas

“Mythbusters” (7:15 p.m.-8:15 p.m., Room 6BCF) Panel with Jamie Hyneman, Adam Savage, Tory Belluci, Grant Imahara

“Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead” and “Torchwood: Children of Earth” screenings (7:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m., Room 6A)

“Heroes” (room & time TBD) Tim Kring and cast

SUNDAY, JULY 26

“Doctor Who” (10 a.m.-11 a.m., Ballroom 20) Panel with David Tennant, Russell Davies, Julie Gardner, Euros Lyn

“Smallville” (10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m., Room 6BCF) Panel with Erica Durance, Justin Hartley, Cassidy Freeman

“American Dad” (11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m., Ballroom 20) Panel with Seth MacFarlane, Wendy Schall, Dee Bradley Baker, Mike Barker, Matt Weitzman

“Supernatural” (11:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m., Room 6BCD) Panel with Misha Collins, Jim Beaver, Eric Kripke

Mattel Panel: “Hot Wheels Battle Force 5″ (Noon-1 p.m., Room 7AB) Panel with Audu Paden, Johnny Darrell. “Hot Wheels Battle Force 5″ world premiere

WB Panel: Zoinks! “Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins” (12:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m., Room 6DE) Panel with Brian Levant, Brian Gilbert, Robbie Amell, Kate Melton, Hayley Kiyoko,Nick Palatas. Screening of the new, live-action/CGI film

“Ghost Whisperer” (1 p.m.-2 p.m., room TBD)

“Being Human” and “Torchwood” (2:15 p.m.-3:45 p.m. Room 6BCF) Panel with John Barrowman, Russell Tovey, Lenora Crichlow, Aidan Turner, Russell Davies, Julie Gardner, Toby Whithouse, Euros Lyn

EVENTS

WEDNESDAY, July 22

Comic-Con TweetUp (Twitter MeetUp) especially for Comic-Con (7 p.m., Voyeur, 755 5th Avenue)

THURSDAY, July 23

“Rocky Horror Picture Show” (5 p.m., Horton Plaza Cinemas)

 Zombiewalk (7:30 p.m., Corner of 4th & Broadway)

Book and a Beer Club with Wil Wheaton (Time: TBA; Stone World Bistro and Brewing Gardens in Escondido)

FRIDAY, JULY 24

“Road Trip: Beer Pong” Happy Hour hosted by Paramount Home Entertainment (TBA, Henry’s Irish Pub)

 Tim & Eric Awesome Show Performance (7 p.m., 4th and B, 345 B Street)

 Brian Posehn & Doug Benson live comedy show (8 p.m., Balboa Theater)

 Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School ComicCon Afterparty (8 p.m.-10 p.m., Ruby Room in Hillcrest, 1271 University Ave.)

 The BBC and Adult Swim Present: The Mighty Boosh Bash (A full cast DJ Set) (11 p.m., 4th and B, 345 B Street)

“Repo! The Genetic Opera” (Midnight, Gaslamp Stadium Cinemas)

 SATURDAY, JULY 25

Tim and Eric Awesome-Con 2009 (Noon -3 p.m., Embarcadero Marina Park North)

Robot Chicken Party (8 p.m.-11 p.m., Skate San Diego, 700 East 24th Street, National City)

 X-Sanguin: Comic-Con’s largest after-party, featuring The Suicide Girls and 5 DJs. (9 p.m.-3 a.m., Spin Nightclub)