All About
Anne Heche
Today was, for me, all about seeing Calista Flockhart's triumphant return to the Television Critics Association's Summer Press Tour with the Brothers & Sisters panel. Sadly, my girl looked utterly miserable, barely cracking a smile when asked if people still call her Ally (yes) or if she's trying to distance herself from Ally (''I haven't really thought of it that much''). So onto more interesting moments that transpired on Wednesday, July 19, the second day of ABC's presentations at the Pasadena, Calif., Ritz-Carlton.
Skerritt stiff Yes, Brothers & Sisters exec producer Ken Olin came over from Alias, but what's up with being cagier than Calista? No fewer than four people asked in some way or another about whether Tom Skerritt's patriarch would be killed off in the first episode, as he was in the original pilot, which is currently being reshot. ''I wouldn't hold onto what you saw in terms of the literal nature of it,'' Olin cryptically said. When pressed further: ''We don't have a deal with Tom Skerritt to be a regular on the show.'' Finally, after one journalist read straight from the ABC website, which confirmed that yes, the patriarch would die, Olin had to give up. ''It's a drama. That's what happens. You're funny, they throw you in the pool.''
Mask hysteria It probably doesn't bode well for Men in Trees, the Sex and the City-meets-Northern Exposure dramedy, that an inordinate number of questions focused on the raccoon that appears in the pilot. Should all of you readers be as fascinated by wildlife as television journalists are, here's what we know: The raccoon's name is Elvis. He does most of his own shots, but because raccoons can't run down stairs, a dog in a raccoon suit had to be Elvis' stunt double. Fascinating, right? Finally, one journalist asked Anne Heche (the artist formerly known as Celestia), ''Can you give us a status report of how you're doing? It's seems you're totally...'' ''Sane?'' Anne threw back. Awkward. Back to more raccoon questions.
Glove kids A fashion note: What was up with all the ABC pages wearing white gloves? Are they a particularly germ-phobic bunch? Do they all wish they were in 18th-century England? Or is this sartorial synergy? Ding ding ding. When I asked one ABC flack if the gloves were a nod to Disney, ABC's parent company, she shot back, ''Why do you ask? Does it matter?'' Ooo-kay. I'm not trying to dig up Walt here. Just asking a simple question.
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