Channel Surfing: Fringe Musical, Conan Heads to TBS, Ryan Devlin Checks into Grey's, Fred Willard, and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing.

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello has an exclusive first-look at the upcoming musical episode of FOX's Fringe, set to air April 29th. "We didn’t set out to do a musical," Fringe's executive producer Jeff Pinkner told Ausiello. "We set out to do an episode that explored Walter’s state of mind — he’s dealing with some very upsetting news. When we realized that the way Walter would deal with such news would be to try to anesthetize himself with copious amounts of marijuana, well, singing and dancing became a natural outcome." [Editor: Hmmm, just what could that "very upsetting news" be?] (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

A rather big speed bump has emerged during the ongoing talks between Conan O'Brien at FOX. Hollywood Reporter's James Hibberd and Matthew Belloni are reporting that while the negotiations between the former Tonight Show host and FOX have been smooth, O'Brien won't commit to a late night talk show with FOX unless the network "can guarantee that stations will air his show in all or nearly all of the country." Which is a significant problem as some affiliates are less than excited by the idea of Coco taking over their late night timeslots, currently home to syndicated programming. The issue has so far prevented O'Brien from entering into "exclusive negotiations" with FOX, with his team continuing to look at other options outside of FOX, which wants to air O'Brien's new series weeknights from 11 pm to midnight. (Hollywood Reporter)

UPDATE! Hold the presses: O'Brien's team has opted not to sign with FOX and has instead concluded a deal with cabler TBS. Yes, you read that correctly. O'Brien's team has signed with TBS for a latenight talk show that will air between 11 pm and midnight on the basic cabler, a move that will push George Lopez's eponymous talker to midnight. "In three months I’ve gone from network television to Twitter to performing live in theaters, and now I’m headed to basic cable," said O'Brien in a statement released by TBS. "My plan is working perfectly." The move pushes the comedy-oriented TBS into a place of prominence. "Conan has been the comedic voice for a generation. TBS already has a huge audience of young comedy lovers, and Conan’s show will give these fans even more reasons to watch our network," said Steve Koonin, president of Turner Entertainment Networks. (via press release)

Ryan Devlin (Cougar Town) will guest star in the May 20th season finale of ABC's Grey's Anatomy, according to Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello, who reports that Devlin will play Bill, the husband of Mandy Moore's character Mary, who is a patient at Seattle Grace. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Entertainment Weekly's Mandi Bierly has an interview with the uber-talented Fred Willard, who will next been seen on Castle, Modern Family, and Chuck. Willard, set to reprise his role as Phil's dad on Modern Family, will guest star on Chuck as half of a super-spy couple. "That was an interesting one, because I play a part I’d always thought I was right for — a spy," said Willard about his upcoming turn on Chuck. "I’m with Swoosie Kurtz on that, we’re a bickering spy couple, kind of like Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers played [on Hart to Hart], and we’re showing the ropes to the young Chuck and his partner. And it’s like a real did we double-cross them or did we triple-cross them? That was a lot of fun." (Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch)

Delroy Lindo (Kidnapped) has been cast as one of the leads in Shawn Ryan's FOX cop drama pilot Ride-Along, opposite Jason Clarke and Jennifer Beals. Lindo will play "a longtime building magnate-turned-politician who is loved by his constituents, but there have always been whispers about possible ties to organized," according to Hollywood Reporter's Nellie Andreeva. (Hollywood Reporter)

NBC ordered a pilot for gameshow Secret Treasure, in which six contestants compete against one another as they answer trivia questions and try to steal one another's cash-laden "secret treasure boxes." Project, from ITV Studios, was created by Jeff Apploff. (Variety)

CBS, meanwhile, ordered a pilot for a revival of classic gameshow Pyramid, from Sony Pictures Television and Michael Davies (Who Wants to Be a Millionaire), which would replace As the World Turns in its daytime lineup. (Hollywood Reporter)

Starz is reportedly developing a series adaptation of culinary critic Gael Greene's 2006 autobiography "Insatiable: Tales From a Life of Delicious Excess," about her "gastronomic and erotic adventures" in 1970s and 1980s Manhattan. Starz will produce the potential one-hour drama series with Robert Lantos' Serendipity Point Films and Rob Lee's Bayonne Entertainment. (Variety)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Grey Damon (90210) has been cast in Season Five of Friday Night Lights as a series regular. He'll play Hastings Ruckle, described as a "sexy, laid back basketball player who ends up joining the Lions as a wide receiver." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Philip Seymour Hoffman and Emily Ziff's production company Cooper's Town is developing an HBO drama series based on Samantha Peale's novel "The American Painter Emma Dial," about a woman coming to terms with her identity crisis as she works within the Manhattan art world. Sarah Treem (In Treatment) will adapt. It's unknown whether the potential drama series would air as a half-hour or one-hour. (Variety)

Warner Bros. Television has signed a two-script deal with Miss Guided creator Caroline Williams--currently a consulting producer on ABC's Modern Family--under which she will develop two comedy projects for the studio, including a single-camera comedy project with executive producer J.J. Abrams. (Hollywood Reporter)

Chris Gethard (The Other Guys) will replace Jon Heder in the Comedy Central comedy series Big Lake. Series, ordered for ten episodes by the cabler, has an option for an additional 90 episodes. (Variety)

Showtime's Marc Wootton comedy La La Land is heading across the pond to BBC Three. (Broadcast)

Law & Order's Sam Waterston will guest star on the April 28th episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, according to TV Guide Magazine's Will Keck. "For the first time in Law & Order: SVU’s eleven year history, Sam will show up in the SVU squad room," executive producer Neal Baer told Keck. (TV Guide Magazine)

SPOILER! Taylor Momsen will be MIA when Gossip Girl returns next season. At least at first, anyway. Citing a source close to Gossip Girl's production, Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Momsen will be absent from the CW drama series for an unknown number of episodes but her temporary departure is for creative reasons. "When you watch the finale," the unnamed insider told Ausiello, "you’ll see that we’re doing something very big with her character." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Sony Pictures Television, Scott Free Television, Tandem Communications, and Peace Out Prods. is developing a four-hour mini-series based on Robert Harris' historical novel "Pompei." (Variety)

ABC will flip Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice on April 22nd, swapping the timeslots for each medical drama for one week. According to the Fuon Critic, "The Grey's/Practice swap... is simply to avoid having original episodes of FlashForward and Practice bookend a second run Grey's." (Futon Critic)

Holly Marie Combs (Charmed) has been cast in ABC Family's upcoming drama series Pretty Little Liars, where she will play the mother of Aria (Lucy Hale), one of four teenage girls who are bound together by a dark secret. She'll be playing opposite Chad Lowe, recently cast as Aria's father, who replaces Alexis Denisof. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

MTV has renewed reality series The Buried Life for a second season. (Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed)

Elsewhere, Spike has renewed reality series 1000 Ways to Die for its fourth and fifth seasons. Move comes before the third season of the Original Prods.-produced series has even debuted. (Variety)

And NBC has renewed The Sing-Off for a second season. The Sony Pictures Television-produced musical competition series will return for eight episodes next season. (Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed)

Stay tuned.

Master of Disguise: Televisionary Talks to "La La Land" Creator/Star Marc Wootton

In addition to roles on such well-regarded British comedies as Gavin & Stacey and Julia Davis' Nighty Night and such series as The Eleven O'Clock Show and My New Best Friend, Marc Wootton truly made his mark on the British comedy scene with the eight-episode High Spirits with Shirley Ghostman, a Borat-like comedy confection in which Wootton performed a variety of eccentric characters--most notably egocentric psychic Shirley Ghostman-- while interacting with real people.

Wootton is set to migrate the comedic style of High Spirits along with its central character Shirley to the West Coast of America with his new series, La La Land, which debuts tonight on Showtime.

The series finds Wootton again performing an array of characters--in this case, outrageously awful psychic medium Shirley, desperate documentary filmmaker Brendan, and naive cabbie/wannabe actor Gary--as they attempt to find fame and fortune in Los Angeles, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.

I caught up with Wootton via telephone in London to discuss La La Land, brushes with law enforcement, his methods for getting into character, why Brits love Los Angeles, what's up next for the comedian, and much more. (What follows is an edited version of the transcript of our 45-minute conversation.)

TELEVISIONARY: When you began developing this into La La Land, did you know at that time that it would be a sequel of sorts to High Spirits?

WOOTTON: The thing that was pitched was pretty much what we did--I mean, there were several characters actually originally and we narrowed it down to three--but it was a multi-character, kind of documentary format. There’s a show I’ve seen in England years ago called Paddington Green, which followed the lives of people who all shared the same postcode. Sometimes you can link characters through location or a theme [and that’s what] they’re trying to achieve. We were looking at possibly putting them all in the same motel; I think the working title at the time might have been Motel California. Bleh. And Shirley was in the mix and Gary and Brendan was in there along with some crazy blind chef. The blind chef would have really been good fun to do, so I’m hoping I’ll get to do it. [If there is a] second season, we will see the blind chef. He’s kind of a man-child.

If you saw High Spirits, there’s a character in that called Ian Jackson who was that kind of slightly remedial, a bit like The Jerk, there’s been lots of those man-childy type characters we’ve seen over the years comically. But we developed the character more like a Chauncey Gardner kind of affair, called Robin. We in the end, I think, once we got to dressing him and walking him around, I went out, because with characters, I still go out and test-drive it if you’d like, just go out and hang out with people, which is a bit absurd considering there’s no cameras. And when we took Robin out, I got in a lot of trouble, just with the way people were reacting to me. I think some felt really sorry for me; some people got really irritated by me. But I worried, I supposed, that it wouldn’t be in the best taste. So maybe that’s for the second season, too. It was fun. It was a really good fun character. I had this ridiculous suit on which was a bit too small for me, that looked incredibly tragic. And I think people—I don’t know what they thought. I don’t know if they thought I was some sort of [mental] that had escaped. It just didn’t flow in a way—I think people felt too sorry for me. And I like, I find that difficult to deal with in this part for television. I like the mix of the characters we’ve got on the show.

TELEVISIONARY: La La Land is obviously in the same vein as High Spirits with Shirley Ghostman. It is deals with mining comedy out of the awkward and uncomfortable, which I happen to find hysterical.

WOOTTON: Yeah, me too. I think that’s what laughter’s kind of all about, really… I’m a big fan of physical comedy as well and when you boil slapstick down—a guy slipping on a banana skin and pretty much hurting himself—I think we’re laughing-- Without getting too philosophical without it sounding like I’m disappearing up my own bum, we’re laughing because of fear. Monkeys when they smile and do that crazy laughing thing is actually fear that they’re displaying. They show their teeth and we do that when we feel a bit anxious. That’s why when we enter a room, we give that inane grin to everyone. But I think laughter is from those uncomfortable kind of situations.

A lot of really great slapstick, if you think about it, is incredibly painful and humiliating and stressful… I like to create characters and I hope we achieved that and if we didn’t, we’ll try better next time... I suppose I love it when you have people just go, "That guy’s a f---ing idiot" and people put my character in his place, rather than like I think happened with other characters like Robin, because people felt so sorry for him. The balance felt just a bit unfair because no one would put that character in his place at all. No one would actually say, “Hold on a minute, you’re an idiot.” I think that’s probably also why I like Gary as well, the actor guy, because people tell him what a buffoon he is.

TELEVISIONARY: How much are the people surrounding the characters—like Ruta, Kiki, or Chico—in on the joke or are they not in on the joke at all?

WOOTTON: They’re not in on the joke. It wouldn’t really work if they were, because then you’d get really horrible, schmuck-y, tease-y…I don’t know, that really kind of bad reality television where it all feels too manufactured. Chico would turn up in the morning to pick me up as Shirley, so I’d get into character, do my hair, coiffeur, get my bangs sorted out and I’d... jump in the back of the car. He’d phone me... on Shirley’s little iPhone, and I would pop down with the address of a location where we were filming. He was hired as my driver, so he’d pick me up from the airport when I, the character, arrived.

When we’re not filming, I can sit down and have lunch with everyone, relax and I’m not sort of going, oh, I’m Shirley now. But we do have quite a great time I suppose to make sure that nobody knows. With Chico, he picked me up from the airport, he was hired as a driver, but he was prepared to appear as part of a documentary-style program and he dropped me off at the airport in the end. He’s completely for real. If he was in on it, it would really stick out like a sore thumb and it would feel really cheesy, because I think the moment that you let someone in on it, it dilutes the whole show.

I did the same thing with High Spirits. Some people in the audience, they got it [and] we [put] them [on camera] as well. And some people got irritated like, why did you feature people who looked silly laughing? It’s because I kind of want people to know that no one’s in on it and some people are cleverer than others and work it out. But I never fix anything or use actors, because I think as soon as you do that, you dilute the whole thing and then as soon as you think “is he an actor?” you’re gonna think, “Eh, he’s an actor. Or maybe that PI, he’s an actor.” And then suddenly, you ask too many questions of the program… That’s why there’s a card on the top. If everyone knows from the beginning of the show, okay, Marc’s playing these characters in the real world and they get on board, and then hopefully it’s in there and you can tell. I can normally tell if you watch film or television in this genre. You get a real strong suspicion [and] sometimes you think, “God, this is definitely fudged. This doesn’t feel right. But hopefully, because of the way people react, I think you can tell it’s real because they wouldn’t give those reactions otherwise.

TELEVISIONARY: What is the most shocking thing to me is how long people actually stay with Shirley or Brendan or Gary given the craziness of the situations that they find themselves in.

WOOTTON: There’s a quote, isn’t there… if you turn the world on its side, everything loose ends up in Los Angeles. The people are quite eccentric and interesting, but they’re willing to sort of take the time… When I wasn’t filming, I fell in love with the place. I’d love to come back because people are so nice. You go to the grocery store and you’re involved in a conversation before you know it, or you’re on the street even and someone says hello and a genuine sincere conversation arises out of a chance meeting. I think because of that culture, people seem to be tolerant---maybe they’re tolerant of Brits, I’m not sure, but they definitely engaged... I don’t know what to attribute it to. I think there’s a part of me that thinks that the camera filming you makes you feel like you have to stay with it. And then there’s the character, which I’d like to think I don’t put my foot on the pedal too much. I take it off the gas when I feel that something is going to break and then I’ll ease off and just sort of coast along for a while, and a lot of it is about listening. Obviously, there’s a lot of footage you don’t see and there’s a lot of genuine conversation that goes on, and you’re totally in the moment. But no one punked out of it, everyone stayed with it. Maybe it’s because I’m getting advice from people, I don’t know.

TELEVISIONARY: I mean, the one that stands out the most from this is the minute man that performs, I think, 71 takes with Brendan for the single-take documentary.

WOOTTON: There’s obviously a mixture in this show. Sometimes there’s a satirical-- I don’t want to get too kind of intellectual. I’m pulling satire because some of it is just when you boil it down, it’s a knock and run game. What do you call it when you knock on someone’s house and you run around the corner and giggle, and then Mr. Jenkins comes out and asks, “Who knocked on my door?” Do you play that game?

TELEVISIONARY: I think it’s “ring and run.“

WOOTTON: “Ring and run.”

TELEVISIONARY: Yeah, something like that.

WOOTTON: Though in LA that would be a nightmare, you’d be running for miles.

TELEVISIONARY: Well, here you just drive up I think in your car and take off in your car. Since nobody will walk anywhere.

WOOTTON: [Laughs] Do they then chase you down in their car and pull you down on the hard shoulder and then 9 times out of 10, you’re running down a little cul de sac and you get trapped?

TELEVISIONARY: And someone beats you with an Oscar statuette. Yeah.

WOOTTON: That’s brilliant. But yeah, sometimes it’s that. Sometimes it’s a satirical agenda going on. Obviously with the minute man, there was a point to that, and also a little bit of a grievance with me about how that guy is with what he does every day in his life, which is to defend the borders of America. And I suppose his carrot was he was hoping to get his point across and I obviously explained in the beginning of that day in great detail how I’m this auteur filmmaker who wants to do everything in one take, it’s never been done and nobody’s ever achieved it, but I’m going to do it, and my reason to him was--which I think is in the show--that I wanted the truth. Because it won’t be cut, then everyone will see the truth, rather than a version of the truth… I have like researchers/film producers who are amazing people. They help to locate these folks that we work with and they then manage them, I suppose. I think the minute man thought that I would be making a good point and supporting him in what he was doing, what he was trying to achieve. So to go back to the beginning, I suppose it was to show off to everyone how he stops those “dreadful Mexicans.”

TELEVISIONARY: But what’s ironic to me is that he is obviously with two non-Americans and doesn’t seem in any way perturbed by that fact.

WOOTTON: Well, not with me, but he was with Kiki. There was one [exchange] that made me feel quite uncomfortable that we poured over in the edit. It just wasn’t funny; the whole tone of the piece changed it. Not that he was outrageously racist, but he definitely had an issue with Kiki.

TELEVISIONARY: Hmm. That doesn’t surprise me.

WOOTTON: He wanted her out. [Pause] He was lovely.

TELEVISIONARY: What’s ironic to me is that you do have people like Kiki, Chico, and Ruta, Each of them in their own way is absolutely fantastic and lovely and wonderful. I thought that was just great because you’re giving each of these off-kilter characters a grounded sidekick in a way that makes them somewhat relatable more to the audience.

WOOTTON: You make it sound really nice. That’s what we’re hoping to do. I rather want it to be real and I thought it was really important that each of those characters have someone we meet every week because, if it’s just me, you'll never get any—not necessarily the voice of reason, but Ruta, for instance, is a voice of reason, isn’t she every time she tells Gary in the nicest possible way that you’re an idiot, pretty much? But she’s so charming, she’s willing to tolerate me each time I go back with [some] new thing.

TELEVISIONARY: What is it about Los Angeles that intrigues Brits so much? There seems to be a distinct sort of romance between the Brits and LA.

WOOTTON: Yeah. Isn’t there a quote like 52-- maybe that’s too many--suburbs in search of a city? [Laughs] It is such a sprawling big place. But I fall in love with LA. It’s really strange, I’m desperate to come out again. I think just it’s such a populous place. What the intrigue is, I suppose is there’s a lot of very interesting diverse people that have all arrived somewhere. How do I say this without sounding like a freak? I mean odd characters, one of the things that links them is mummy and daddy and parental approval if you like, and I think there are a lot of people who are desperate for parental approval that are trying to make it or trying to get recognition for something, maybe me. I think it’s just a real interesting mix, and there’s a spiritual side going on, and there’s this harsh TV and film industry and God, I don’t know what the key to it is. I don’t want to beat on it, the actual state is amazing, I spent time in Yosemite hunting bears--I didn’t really hunt bears, but I was "hunting bears." I love it up there and I love San Diego. And I thought San Francisco has some of the most beautiful architecture I’ve seen for a long time. I just love, I love it, down to Monterey Bay, exploring down around Los Angeles and all the other lovely places in California.

I think it’s probably the fact that there is extreme people there, you know? [As] Gary, [I] went and saw this really very interesting guy who regressed me spiritually… and [I spent] the piece pretending to be a caveman. I was fighting dinosaurs and stuff. We did finish and shot an ending. But this guy is able to operate what he does for a living—he has an office, he’s able to get money in his pocket and pay his mortgage and live as well as a fantastic photographer and as well as a fantastically talented, beautiful Hollywood grandee like Ruta Lee, fittingly in her heels.

All of that talent is exciting, I suppose. All of that talent doesn’t exist as much anymore, does it? That’s what I love about Ruta, that she just represents someone like Gary as well, and that’s why we cast someone like that. She just represents so much talent and she’s an amazing dancer, she’s a brilliant singer, and accomplished performer, and that’s quite rare in an age of people winning [TV] competitions and becoming famous. Celebrity sort of changed. Back then it was people having raw amazing talent. And we thought, oh, she’s got a little star on Hollywood Walk of Fame. We thought we could cast her against Gary because Gary’s got nothing, he’s this cab driver. He’s the guy who will try out for this competition and thinks I can do that. Doesn’t matter which competition he’s on. He’s one of the people who sits in his armchair and looks at other people and says, “I can do that.”

[Los Angeles is] just such a weird mix… You’ve got just so much going on and there is this dream, I suppose. It feels like dreams can be achieved. There’s a real can-do attitude out there. I’ve spent some time down in Australia and it has the same sort of vibe. Of just making things happen, which is really exciting and really ignites your imagination.

TELEVISIONARY: Has the police ever been called? Has it ever gotten to that point?

WOOTTON: When I steal the silverware from Alan Thicke’s house, he’s really hardcore and you hear the police in the background, but then three police cars show up and they penned all the crew in. I managed to escape and the crew was all penned in for ages. It’s happened a few times. Obviously what happened in Episode 2, all the park rangers turned up and they penned us in. Three park rangers in the end all came and one guy was so angry. “I just left my dinner table, my kids, my wife, and you wasted my time.” I was in so much trouble. The problem that I have is that I’m in character, and all my identification is the character’s identification. So I’ve got a fake driver’s license and all the things that you would need to make you a believable rounded character other than a silly comedy thing.

In order to hang out with these people for such a long time, I have to live and breathe as the character. And the police want to see identification and you show them and you try and keep it going and then there’s that horrible awkward moment where you feel like you have to go, “Actually, I’m not really Brendan, I’m not really Gary” and that’s a tough one to call… I’d say the police have shown up 5 or 6 times during shooting and by the end of the Alan Thicke [incident], they were posing for photographs with the crew and everyone saw the funny side, including Alan, which was just great. It doesn’t always go that way. Sometimes statements are taken and I’ve had detectives ask me questions about what happened.... Luckily, I can say to the fact that the police think, okay, we don’t do anything truly naughty or illegal... There is no harm that comes to anybody or maybe I might be arrested for wasting time. But I feel the time we wasted with [the Spirited auditions] was with people who I have a bit of a personal problem with anyway, which are people who charge other people money to tell them stuff about dead folk. And that, I don’t know how that sits with me. It certainly feels like I’m out allowed to waste people like that, their time. But yes, police turn up lots. Lots and lots.

The reason we can’t speak to the police is because they never want to sign anything and they don’t want their face on the show. There’s a park ranger in there that we’ve blurred and when the police turn up at Thicke's, we had to stop filming because police generally is a time where they never go, “Yeah! Put me on camera.”

TELEVISIONARY: You mentioned earlier about the process that goes into creating characters and Gary goes to see a sort of method acting coach. How Method are you, actually? Obviously when you break for lunch, you’re Marc, not Brendan or Gary or Shirley, but how deep into these characters’ backstories do you go?

WOOTTON: Oh, backstories, massively. Because if you can’t look someone in the eye and answer a question about [them]… Like Shirley, I can tell you how he was brought up and what happened to him at age six. I will sit and explore on the hot seat, we’ll go right in and get the backstory only because these characters have to function in the real world… Obviously there is a certain amount of improvisation as well, but I feel I can only really, truly be believable if I am the thing I’m pretending to be.

However, I think some journalists before have said, “Marc never comes out of character and makes the crew call him…” Obviously the crew has to refer to me as the character I’m portraying at that point, otherwise the whole thing would be rumpled. But I’m not too precious. There are stories about Laurence Olivier and Dustin Hoffman, and Dustin only says just try acting, I think it was Marathon Man they were working on, and Dustin turned up having not slept and disappeared, but really deeply into the character. He’s acting isn’t he, but he’s pretending at the end of the day. And occasionally you get a little prize for pretending. We do it as kids. Kids slip out of it really well, don’t they? I think children are brilliant. I just made a film in the UK called Nativity, which is working a lot with children, lots of 7 to 10-year-olds, and they’re really good. Having the innocence to pretend to be the things they’re not. And that’s all it is. It’s not rocket science. It’s not brain surgery. It’s not anything that’s cute or clever.

So I do spend a long time, but I don’t think I take it too seriously. We film in blocks as well, so I’ll start with Brendan with that big beard and that’s actually my real beard and that’ll get shaved off, and then I’ll dye my hair—and this is going to make me sound like a freak-- and then I have extensions for Shirley and then all that hair comes off and Gary’s hair cut. Everything is obviously real because it has to be because you’re up close with people, whether it’s the paint on your nails or your shoes need to be worn shoes, because it would be awful if the bottom of your shoe, you put your foot up and had a beautiful shiny shoe with a big price sticker on the bottom… Luckily I have a great team, a fantastic director and some great writers. Liam who I write with, I’ve done a lot of shows with: My New Best Friend, High Spirits. We’re all into it, the people I surround myself with are all into detail and I think it probably is all in the detail as far as being believable and rounded. Having a suit that’s been worn… everything needs to feel lived in and real. The wallet needs to feel real when it comes out of my pocket.

TELEVISIONARY: I've been following this project since it first got announced and I’ve seen you turn up on things like Gavin & Stacey and Nighty Night--

WOOTTON: Oh wow, I’m actually working with Julia [Davis] next week! We’re doing a new thing. ABC Australia has just given us a bit of money to develop a thing, which we’ll have to put on hold if I get a second season of La La Land. But we’re getting together actually next week for the whole week to create and improvise some characters and to see what comes out of that. A week of work with Ms. Davis! Which could turn into something really nice, but it would definitely be long-term if I have to do a second season, and I think she’s doing something with Baby Cow too.

TELEVISIONARY: Julia is fantastic.

WOOTTON: She’s extraordinary. Really talented and brilliant, an excellent performer. She’s very gifted in writing. And that same sense of [finding] humor in the awkward. You’re kind of gnawing off your hand because it’s in front of your face and you’re thinking, Jesus, she’s so evil. Deliciously evil.

La La Land premieres tonight at 11 pm ET/PT on Showtime.

Traveling Through Cloud Cuckoo Land: An Advance Review of Showtime's "La La Land"

There's a certain subgenre of comedy that doesn't really have a label; it's the sort of humor that mines painful or uncomfortable situations for humor. Call it Comedy of the Awkward. The Brits are quite successful at utilizing this type of comedy for major laughs; the original version of The Office did this quite successfully, as did Peep Show, Nighty Night, and any of the characters created by Sasha Baron Cohen on Da Ali G Show (particularly Borat).

A few years back, British comedian Marc Wootton created and starred in an eight-episode BBC Three comedy series High Spirits with Shirley Ghostman, which found Wootton donning a number of hairstyles, costumes, and accents to play a variety of outre characters who then interacted with the public at large. (It aired Stateside on BBC America in 2006.) The result was a sidesplitting and often painful series of double-takes and belly laughs, especially when Wootton donned a white suit and French-tipped nails to play the titular Shirley Ghostman, a callous and hyper-ambitious psychic who claimed to be able to channel celebrity spirits.

This Monday evening sees the launch on Showtime of Marc Wootton's uproarious new comedy series La La Land, in which Wootton plays three characters--including his twisted grand creation Shirley Ghostman--in search of fame and fortune in Los Angeles. As before, the situations are real, though the people Wootton encounters are unaware of the fact that he is performing a character.

In La La Land, Wootton takes aim at the artificiality of both the entertainment industry and the denizens of Los Angeles who buy into the false magic of fame. Portraying Ghostman as a psychic who has arrived in LA for a fresh start (after a brush with the law in England), divorced documentary filmmaker Brendan desperate for success, and wannabe actor Gary who gives new meaning to the term "fish out of water, Wootten doesn't just transform himself into these characters, but channels them completely.

Each of the three men is played so straight and convincingly that it's difficult to separate at times the "reality" created by the characters (there are no false beards or wigs involved and Wootton workshops these characters in public) and the fiction that Wootton has created. Assisting this delicious fantasy are the sidekicks that each of the characters encounters along the way: Brendan hires stripper Kiki as a camerawoman; Shirley hires Chico as a chauffeur/gopher; and Gary turns to classic film star Ruta Lee for guidance as he navigates the choppy waters of life as a struggling actor.

Each episode features the three men engaged in different storylines that might involve Shirley auditioning for a psychic television series (here called Spirited) and attempting to eliminate the competition through some rather devious means, Brendan attempting to film a single-take documentary of an increasingly irate Minuteman, and Gary attending a workshop on Method acting. While the story strands are separate, they are intercut and woven thematically into individual episodes that recount another week of life in the City of Angels.

I won't say too much about the plot because it's best to just dive into La La Land and be swept away by the shock and hysteria of each episode. Wootton does a fantastic job at keeping the tension up and pushing the subjects as far as they can go before the scenario breaks down completely. It's a rare talent that showcases not only his knowledge of human nature and his precise comedic timing but also a deft satirical hand and an ability to blend right into each of his characters.

Shirley, Brendan, and Gary might not be people you want to run into on the streets of Los Angeles but their presence in the deliciously off-kilter La La Land will make you want to spend your Monday evenings with them. Just don't turn your back on Shirley...



La La Land launches on Monday night at 11 pm ET/PT on Showtime.

Channel Surfing: Michael Trucco "Facing Kate," "Desperate Housewives" Gets FlashForward, Showtime Announces Series Returns, and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing.

Former Battlestar Galactica star Michael Trucco has been cast in USA drama pilot Facing Kate, where he will play the charismatic ex-husband to Kate, a former lawyer (Sarah Shahi) who leaves her job to become a mediator after the death of her father. Also cast: Virginia Williams (Lie to Me), who will play Kate's younger stepmother, a domineering woman who is desperate to hold onto her late husband's law firm. Bronwen Hughes will direct the pilot, which hails from Universal Cable Prods. (Hollywood Reporter)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Desperate Housewives will offer a flashforward of sorts in their first episode after the December 6th cliffhanger that will explore several "what if" scenarios. "Two Wisterians featured prominently in the alternate reality sequences will be Gaby and Carlos’ youngest daughter, Celia, and Mike and Susan’s son, MJ," writes Ausiello. "I know this because DH is currently casting thirtysomething versions of both characters." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Showtime has announced return dates for several of its series, including a January 25th bow for Secret Diary of a Call Girl and Tracey Ullman's State of the Union, which will air back-to-back at 10 pm ET/PT. The night will also see the premiere of Marc Wootton's new comedy series La La Land, in which the British comedian will play three different characters interacting with real-life Los Angeles inhabitants. Looking ahead, Nurse Jackie and United States of Tara return for their respective sophomore seasons on March 22nd and The Tudors returns for its fourth and final season on April 11th. (via press release)

BBC One will launch the third and final season of comedy Gavin & Stacey on November 26th at 9 pm GMT. The network described this season: "As Gavin starts his new job, the move to Barry Island means big changes for the whole family. Pam and Mick have to adjust to an empty nest while Gwen's got a full house again. Stacey is in her element, but will this finally be the solution to the couple's long-distance problem? And how will Gavin take to living in Wales? Smithy questions their friendship along with his own role as father – and with Dave Coaches on the scene and now engaged to Nessa, will Smithy find himself pushed out of the frame? How will life in a caravan work out for Nessa and her soon-to-be husband Dave?" Pam Ferris will join the cast as Smithy's mother. (via press release)

Variety's Cynthia Littleton checks in with the producers of NBC's Parenthood, which has faced some very trying obstacles in its path to the small screen, including the health-related departure of star Maura Tierney and the character's recasting by Lauren Graham. "We’re looking forward to bringing some of her comedy to the show," said executive producer Jason Katims of Graham, "but our show has a very different tone and different voice for her. She’s looking forward to doing something different." (Variety)

NUMB3RS fans shouldn't worry that CBS will end the crime procedural without giving producers an opportunity to wrap up storylines, according to Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello. "We will be doing a 16th episode that wraps up storylines and answers questions," co-creator Cheryl Heuton told Ausiello. "It will be designed to stand as a finale, but it won’t create story situations that would hamper us if the network should decide to order more episodes... [and] will give fans what they’ve been waiting for... We’re looking to feature all our characters and give good moments to every member of the cast." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

TV Land and TV Guide Network have sealed a joint deal under which they will share basic cable rerun rights to HBO comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm. TV Guide Network will get the first crack at the series, launching its window in February while TV Land gets their run beginning as early as February 2013. (The Wrap's TVMoJoe)

A&E Television Networks pinkslipped 100 employees on Friday, roughly 10 percent of their overall workforce, in light of the cabler's recent merger with Lifetime. The majority of the cuts occurred at the female-centric network, with several executives let go, including head of casting Rick Jacobs, unscripted executive Jessica Samet, and several high-level publicists. (Hollywood Reporter)

Disney Channel has ordered a second season of comedy series Jonas, which will launch sometime in mid-2010. The cabler has named showrunner Lester Lewis and director Paul Hoen executive producers. (Hollywood Reporter)

Elsewhere at the cabler, Jennifer Stone (Wizards of Waverly Place) will topline Disney Channel telepic Harriet the Spy, loosely based on Louise Fitzhugh's novel. Plot will be updated with Harriet now a movie producer's daughter whose aim is to become her class blogger. Pic, set to air next year, is written by Heather Conkie and Alexandra Clarke and directed by Ron Oliver. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: "Supernatural" Finds Its Lucifer with "Lost" Star, Peregrym Strikes "Copper," ABC's "Lost" to Run 18 Hours Next Season, and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing.

Mark Pellegrino (Lost) has been cast in CW's Supernatural next season, where he will play none other than Lucifer himself. Pellegrino, who will recur on Supernatural next season, is expected to first appear on the series' September 10th season premiere. Meanwhile, don't look for him to give up his other role: that of Jacob on ABC's Lost, which he could easily do as well given his recurring status on Supernatural. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Missy Peregrym (Reaper) has been cast as the lead in Canadian police drama Copper, which will air Stateside on ABC. Peregrym will play Andy McNally, "a newly minted cop fresh from the academy and the daughter of a homicide detective" who "is anxious about her first day on the job, which doesn't go as well as she had wished." Series is described as "Grey's Anatomy set in the world of rookie cops." ABC closed a deal to acquire 13 episodes of the series in April. (Hollywood Reporter)

Meanwhile, Lost is getting slightly longer next season. Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello announced via Twitter that the ABC drama will increase to 18 hours for its sixth and final season, including both a two-hour premiere and a two-hour finale. (Twitter)

Producer Craig Piligian (American Chopper) has snagged rights to the life of airplane repo man Nick Popovich, which he plans to develop into an unscripted series that he will shop to cable networks including Discovery Channel or Spike. Popovich travels the globe to repossess airplanes and other huge-ticket items from owners who have defaulted on their regular payments. ""Every case is different," Piligian told Variety. "Maybe it's a small airline in Scandinavia that bought a 747. He has to figure out how to get past airline security and grab the plane. He plans it like a military operation. Sometimes he's in disguise. Often it gets a little hairy." (Variety)

T.J. Ramini (Desperate Housewives) has been cast in Day Eight of FOX's 24, where he will play Tarin Karoush, an associate of the character played by Anil Kapoor. (Hollywood Reporter)

Australian residents will be able to watch the upcoming season of Torchwood, entitled Torchwood: Children of Earth, within a few hours of its broadcast in the UK. UKTV will be airing the five episodes over consecutive nights day-and-date with the BBC One broadcast in the UK beginning Monday, July 6th. Torchwood: Children of Earth will be airing Stateside on BBC America beginning July 20th. (Digital Spy)

NBC has secured the rights to an edited-down one-hour version of Martin Bashir's 2003 documentary Living with Michael Jackson, which it will air tonight as part of a Dateline NBC special. (Variety)

Charlie Siskel has been named executive producer/showrunner on Comedy Central's Important Things with Demetri Martin, where he replaces Beth McCarthy-Miller as the series' production relocates from New York to Los Angeles. Additionally, Siskel will serve as executive producer on Showtime's upcoming six-episode Marc Wootton sketch comedy series, which he will produce alongside Wootton (High Spirits with Shirley Ghostman). (Hollywood Reporter)

As you heard here last week, Hustle & Flow director Craig Brewer has signed on to direct the FX dramedy pilot Terriers. (Variety)

Lea Thompson (Caroline in the City) and director Howard Deutch (My Best Friend's Girl) are teaming to develop dramedy pilot A Town Called Malice, about a former rock star who returns to her hometown with her estranged teen daughter after her husband melts down on stage during a concert and the duo must rebuild their lives together. No network is attached. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.