A NEW STAGE FOR TV 'WILL & GRACE' GOES LIVE, OTHER SHOWS TO FOLLOW.Byline: Valerie Kuklenski Staff Writer Since the '50s, TV producers have rejoiced with each technical advancement that made it easier to put out a more polished, perfectly timed series episode. Better editing and transmission equipment meant - whew whew interj. Used to express strong emotion, such as relief or amazement. whew interj an exclamation of relief, surprise, disbelief, or weariness ! - they didn't have to air live. Yet this season, more producers are daring to go live before millions of viewers, turning their casts and crews into circus performers working without a safety net for the first time ever. ``Will & Grace'' makes its eighth-season debut at 8:30 p.m. Thursday with an episode performed once for the Eastern and Central time zones, with a second staging for the Pacific time zone. ``This will be like the classic golden era of television that I was weaned wean tr.v. weaned, wean·ing, weans 1. To accustom (the young of a mammal) to take nourishment other than by suckling. 2. on, where the audience sees everything,'' said James Burrows James Edward Burrows (born December 30 1940 in Los Angeles, California) is a prolific American television director who has been working in television since the 1970s. He is a graduate of Oberlin College. , veteran director and an executive producer on the NBC NBC in full National Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network. sitcom. ``Directing a live broadcast will be a first for me, and as long as I have been in the business, there are very few firsts.'' But there are mixed emotions among the actors. One person's exhilarating adrenalin rush is another's fight-or-flight trigger. In a recent group interview, Sean Hayes (Jack) suggested he's hoping for cue cards. Debra Messing (Grace) gasped loudly when it was pointed out to her that the technical demands of going live would mean Burrows would be up in a booth instead of on the floor. But Eric McCormack Eric James McCormack (b. April 18 1963,[1] in Toronto, Ontario, Canada) is an Emmy Award-winning Canadian-American actor of Canadian, Irish and Cherokee descent. He maintains residences in Los Angeles and Vancouver. , a stage veteran who plays Will, seems to be ready for whatever happens. ``It keeps it interesting for us. It stirs it up. It gives us a new way to do it.'' Messing expressed concern about her three costume changes in the 22-minute show. ``There's a little part of me that's hoping your costume change takes a little too long, and we have to vamp,'' McCormack said to Messing. ``That would be fun, because that's not a mistake. That's just fun.'' ``I will be crying if that happens,'' Messing replied. ``I'll have three pairs of underwear on,'' Hayes put in. Megan Mullally Megan Mullally (born November 12, 1958 in Los Angeles, California, U.S.) is a three-time SAG and two-time Emmy Award-winning Irish-American actress, talk show host and singer, best known for her role as Karen Walker on Will & Grace. (Karen) said the `'Will & Grace'' writing team is notorious for tinkering with the script's laugh lines, even during taping. She hopes they'll resist that urge for the live episode, but Messing is not sure they will. ``I have a gut feeling gut feeling Intuition, visceral sensation that, like, 10 minutes before we go they'll be like, 'Oh, no, no, you know what? Change this line to this. Now we're locked - go,' '' Messing said. There's talk that ``The West Wing'' also will beam live once this season. NBC and Warner Bros. Television Warner Bros. Television is the television production and distribution arm of Time Warner's Warner Bros. Entertainment and The CW Television Network (in which Warner has a 50% ownership stake). this week still refused to confirm it, but Jimmy Smits and Alan Alda Alan Alda (born January 28, 1936) is a five-time Emmy Award-winning, six-time Golden Globe-winning, Academy Award-nominated American actor. He is perhaps most famous for his role as Hawkeye Pierce in the television series M*A*S*H. , the actors who would star in it, have been openly enthusiastic about the concept. Smits, who plays Democratic presidential candidate Matt Santos Matthew Vincente 'Matt' Santos is a fictional character on the American television show The West Wing, played by Jimmy Smits. His initial appearance is as a Democratic U.S. Representative from Houston, Texas. Personal life Santos was born at St. , last spring disclosed plans for a live show during November sweeps, done as a televised debate between his character and Alda's Republican Sen. Arnold Vinick. Alda says he's in favor of it. ``I love that sense of danger,'' Alda said. ``The only training I had as an actor was as an improviser. It kind of fits with my aspiration to be as spontaneous as I can be. ``In fact, when I was a young man on the stage, if another actor missed an entrance and I was alone on stage, I thought, 'Oh boy, is this great? I can make up my own play now!' ``So the opportunity to do a presidential debate, although it's scripted, it'll be live, and there'll be a certain amount of uncertainty - my blood is up for that.'' A live debate with the leads planted at podiums and at least a portion of the script on TelePrompTers could actually be an easy production compared with a regular ``West Wing'' episode. Its scripts often include several long tracking shots through corridors and stairwells with dialogue for several actors. The production team for ``The West Wing'' would be able to draw on the institutional memory of the highly rated 1997 ``ER'' live episode, which also was produced by John Wells John Wells may be: People:
``The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' also jumped on the live bandwagon this month, airing at 7 a.m. Pacific time on Sept. 19, the morning after its host emceed the Primetime Emmy Awards. The talk show was Emmy-themed, so DeGeneres and her crew put in extra time in the wee hours, culling culling removal of inferior animals from a group of breeding stock. The removal is premature, i.e. before completion of its life span, disposal of an animal from a herd or other group. through exclusive backstage video from the awards show and promptly booking Emmy winners such as Felicity Huffman and Blythe Danner. Huffman looked appropriately unkempt, schlepping on stage in baggy pajamas pajamas Noun, pl US pyjamas pajamas npl (US) → pijama msg; piyama msg (LAM , Emmy in one hand and coffee mug in the other. S. Epatha Merkerson, who the night before winged her acceptance speech because she lost her cheat sheet in the bodice of her gown, made amends by pulling out the crumpled crum·ple v. crum·pled, crum·pling, crum·ples v.tr. 1. To crush together or press into wrinkles; rumple. 2. To cause to collapse. v.intr. 1. paper and rattling off her thank-yous for the ``Ellen'' audience. Alda is mindful that live performing is not only thrilling, it can be dangerous. In theater productions, he caught his robe on fire while he was smoking, he choked on a piece of food, and he was nearly struck by a falling lighting instrument. ``I've almost died on the stage several times,'' he said. ``Maybe I should be concerned about this. Maybe I should be more sensible.'' A saucy sauc·y adj. sauc·i·er, sauc·i·est 1. a. Impertinent or disrespectful. b. Impertinent in an entertaining way; impossible to repress or control. 2. quip quip n. 1. A clever, witty remark often prompted by the occasion. 2. A clever, often sarcastic remark; a gibe. See Synonyms at joke. 3. A petty distinction or objection; a quibble. 4. from McCormack prompted Messing to worry less about technical glitches than her co-star going off the script. ``See? That's exactly the kind of thing that I am very scared of on the night,'' she said. ``His brain works so quickly, and often such words come out and very funny jokes come out, but they may not be quite appropriate for our censors. So watch out for Eric McCormack on the night - he's a wild card.'' Staff writer David Kronke contributed to this story. Valerie Kuklenski, (818) 713-3750 valerie.kuklenski(at)dailynews.com WILL & GRACE What: Live episode of the sitcom. When: 8:30 p.m. Thursday. Where: NBC (Channel 4) CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- cover -- color) LIVE and LOVING IT `Will & Grace' tries its own brand of reality tv (2) ``Will & Grace'' stars Sean Hayes, left, Eric McCormack, Debra Messing and Megan Mullally do a table read of the script for their show's live episode, which they will perform twice Thursday for different time zones. |
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