LIKE A SOFTBALL TO THE GROIN 'HIDDEN HILLS' AIMS TO CAPTURE HUMOR OF VALLEY EXPERIENCE.Byline: David Kronke Television Critic PASADENA - WHEN HE MET on Tuesday with the nation's TV critics, 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. Entertainment president Jeff Zucker Jeffrey Zucker (born April 9, 1965) is an American television executive, and President & CEO of NBC Universal. He is a 5-time Emmy Award winner known for his aggressive promotion of his network's programs. said of ``Hidden Hills,'' the network's new comedy that reveals the (according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. press notes) ``wild,'' ``sexy'' and ``edgy'' side of suburbia, ``It's very much my life.'' So, what aspect of that show resonated with Zucker? The scene in which the lead character takes a softball to the groin? Or that character's obsession with a blond neighbor's porn Web site? Take it from us - the answer wasn't as interesting as the question (it had to do with kids' backpacks weighing a lot these days, and it wasn't Zucker but another executive who related to that). And take it from us - the rest of the session wasn't all that interesting, either, and it was about as compelling as the show itself. ``Hidden Hills'' stars Justin Louis Justin Louis (born Luis Ferreira on February 20 1967, Terceira, Açores, Portugal) is a Canadian actor. His parents immigrated from Portugal to Canada in his early life and grew up in North York, Ontario. and Paula Marshall Paula Marshall (born June 12 1964) is an American actress. Biography Personal life Marshall was born in Rockville, Maryland and graduated from Robert E. Peary High School in Rockville, in 1982, where she pursued her love of photography. as Doug and Janine, a married couple whose life is harried but whose marriage is listless (programming) listless - In functional programming, a property of a function which allows it to be combined with other functions in a way that eliminates intermediate data structures, especially lists. . Ditto their friends Zack (Dondre T. Whitfield) and Sarah (Tamara Taylor). Belinda (Kristin Bauer) is a divorced mother whose infamous porn site has hard drives everywhere abuzz. After showing a clip from the show in which the errant softball and the sinful Web site were the prominent gags, Marshall remarked, ``That's some funny stuff.'' It was difficult to tell whether she was being sarcastic or not, although she did seem a little nonplused non·plus tr.v. non·plused also non·plussed, non·plus·ing also non·plus·sing, non·plus·es also non·plus·ses To put at a loss as to what to think, say, or do; bewilder. n. when she discovered her microphone was already turned on. Already, though, the producers declare they're backing off the whole porn-mom thing. ``There are controversial characters in all sorts of stories,'' executive producer Peter Segal says. ``We're just saying, 'These kind of people exist and here's how they might affect you.' '' Segal based the series on his own life; he used to live in the Valley community of Hidden Hills (though the series itself is shot in Pasadena). ``People thought the title was subtle, slightly sexual and yet - no, it was just a town I lived in,'' he says. The main topic of discussion - aside, of course, from the porn Web site - was the less-than-stellar resumes of the show's stars. Paula Marshall: ``Snoops SNOOPS - Craske, 1988. An extension of SCOOPS with meta-objects that can redirect messages to other objects. "SNOOPS: An Object-Oriented language Enhancement Supporting Dynamic Program Reeconfiguration", N. Craske, SIGPLAN Notices 26(10): 53-62 (Oct 1991). ,'' quickly canceled; ``Cupid,'' slowly canceled; ``The Weber Show,'' witheringly canceled. Justin Louis: ``Fighting Fitzgeralds,'' blink and you missed it; ``Battery Park,'' you missed it, period; ``Trinity'' - did you even hear of this show? Dondre Whit... well, you get the idea. ``It's not my fault,'' Marshall declares, speaking, essentially, for the lot. ``I feel fortunate that people think I'm good enough to be on television.'' ``We love you,'' Segal interjects. ``Unless you kill our show, of course.'' Expect the love not to last too long. Our TV critic is reviewing the presentations put on by the networks for the Television Critics Association The Television Critics Association (or TCA) is a group of approximately 200 United States and Canadian journalists and columnists who cover television programming. They meet in the Los Angeles area twice a year, in January and July, in conferences known as Winter and Summer . HIDDEN HILLS PRESS CONFERENCE Who: Justin Louis, Paula Marshall, Dondre T. Whitfield, Tamara Taylor, Kristin Bauer, Peter Segal, Ric Swartzlander, Suzanne Daniels. Entertainment value: One and one half stars Informational value: Two and one half stars Chances of success: One and one half stars CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Toto, we're not in Calabasas anymore: Tamara Taylor, left, Dondre T. Whitfield, Paula Marshall, Justin Louis and Kristen Bauer haunt NBC's ``Hidden Hills.'' |
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