Double Time - Aug. 30, 2008

ON SCREEN:
90210
Tuesdays; The CW, Global
ELI STONE
Tuesdays this fall; ABC, A

BOTTOM LINE:
TWO'S COMPANY . . .


Double time

Some actresses are in an exclusive club this fall.

With roles on more than one show, the new 

season will be twice as nice for them.

By Eric Kohanik

Getting a role on a network TV series is a tough job. 

For some actresses, though, the upcoming season will be twice as nice because they’ve landed jobs on more than one show. 

AnnaLynne McCord is among those in that exclusive club. The 21-year-old actress was a dazzler as Eden, the deviant and predatory daughter of Olivia Lord (Portia de Rossi) who was slowly poisoning Julia McNamara (Joely Richardson) with mercury-laced fruitcake on Nip/Tuck last season. 

Starting this week, viewers will see McCord as Naomi Clark, a spoiled rich girl on the much-hyped new incarnation of 90210. 

“Obviously, 90210 is more the PG version of my role on Nip/Tuck,” McCord explained recently in Los Angeles. “I’m still ‘the bitch.’ It’s an awesome job.” 

There’s still plenty of action in store for Eden, though, when FX’s Nip/Tuck returns this fall –airing this time on Citytv in Canada. (It used to be seen on CTV.) 

“This does not mean you’ve seen the last of Eden,” McCord confirms somewhat playfully. “I am not written out of Nip/Tuck – and I’m not going to say anything [more]!” 

Toronto actress Shenae Grimes is part of the doublemint club this season, too. She tops the 90210 cast as Annie Wilson, the girl who endures the culture shock of Beverly Hills when her family moves there from Kansas. 

Grimes will also still be part of CTV’s Degrassi: The Next Generation when the Canadian series returns for its eighth season. 

For Grimes, the difference between working on TV shows in Toronto and Los Angeles has been mostly about the hype of Hollywood. 

“Everything that’s been going on has been a little overwhelming, to say the least,” the 18-year-old actress says of the publicity storm that is surrounding her. “I’m just rolling with it.” 

Loretta Devine has certainly learned to roll with things. Viewers have come to know her as Adele, the wife of Dr. Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.) on Grey’s Anatomy. 

Last season, they also got to know Devine as Patti, the no-nonsense legal assistant to Eli (Jonny Lee Miller) on ABC’s Eli Stone. That role came about after Adele had left Richard and Devine thought it was the end of the road for her on Grey’s Anatomy. 

“I’ve sort of always been in limbo,” the 58-year-old Devine says of her Grey’s work. Although Adele’s return in the season finale didn’t surprise her, the character’s apparent reconciliation with her ex-hubby did. 

“I never know whether they’re going to kill me off,” Devine admits. “So, when I went back this past season, I thought that they were bringing me back to do that. Instead, they wrote in a bedroom scene. So, I was really happy about that.” 

And what about handling roles on two series at the same time this fall? 

“It’s all like a juggling act,” Devine says. “I’m real excited to be part of both shows.”

Grey's Anatomy - April 28, 2007

ON SCREEN:
GREY'S ANATOMY
THURSDAYS; ABC, CTV

BOTTOM LINE:
WILL LIGHTNING STRIKE AGAIN?


Doctor's orders

ABC needs a cure for its programming woes.
A Grey's Anatomy spinoff might be
just the right medicine.


By Eric Kohanik

When TV networks have a big hit series on their hands, they often try to see if they can get lightning to strike twice.

And, often, that means spinning that hit off into a new series.

Sometimes, networks get the idea as the original show comes to an end. That’s how Cheers was spun off into Frasier.

Unfortunately, that’s also how Friends gave birth to Joey.

More and more, however, networks are taking existing TV hits that still have lots of mileage left in them and turning them into “franchises” that lead to new shows. That’s how NBC took Law & Order and came up with Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. It’s also how CBS took CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and spun it off into CSI: Miami, which then spawned CSI: NY.

ABC is desperate to find that sort of franchise, too. The network toyed with one idea last season, in an episode of Boston Legal, a show that is itself a spinoff from a previous ABC legal drama called The Practice. The episode, which featured guest star Robert Wagner, was set in the Los Angeles offices of the fictional law firm of Crane, Poole & Schmidt. But it didn’t really go anywhere.

The need seems even more pressing for ABC this season. Such established shows as Desperate Housewives and Lost have clearly lost much of their heat this season. And many of the network’s new series – Help Me Help You, Big Day, Day Break, The Knights of Prosperity, In Case of Emergency, Justice, The Nine, Six Degrees and October Road – have more or less fizzled. So, ABC really needs something big.

Enter Grey’s Anatomy.

Clearly one of the most compelling ensemble dramas on TV today, Grey’s Anatomy gets better with each passing week. ABC is even rerunning episodes of the Thursday drama on Friday nights, with moderate success. It seems to be a natural breeding ground for a credible spinoff.

So, pay attention to this week’s episode of the show. It is meant to set the stage for exactly that to happen.

The star-studded two-hour instalment weaves much of its storyline around Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh), the dishy ex-wife of the show’s resident “Dr. McDreamy,” Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey). A relative latecomer to the medical team that populates Seattle Grace Hospital, Montgomery is now facing a decision about leaving their ranks, thanks to a tempting job offer that comes her way in Los Angeles.

Of course, whether or not she accepts the offer and moves away will depend on whether or not network executives will want to go for a Grey’s Anatomy spinoff.

Given ABC’s lousy track record this season, it’s a pretty safe bet they will.