Movie stars think they're lucky? Here at ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, people get paid to watch TV! In fact, the 10 editors, critics, and writers who make up our television department have spent the last couple of months sitting slack-jawed in front of flickering screens, scrutinizing this season's 36 new shows for our ninth annual Fall TV Preview.
Perhaps it's time to pry them away. Lately, the line separating these folk from their television doppelgangers has become increasingly blurred -- which, come to think of it, might actually help to explain the various voices and opinions in the preview that follows. Herewith, our EW scribes and their small-screen counterparts. Lovably cranky critic-at-large Ken Tucker: David Letterman. Lovably whiny fellow critic Bruce Fretts: Everybody Loves Raymond's Ray Barone. Lovably caustic (and fastidious) staff editor Jamie Bufalino: Friends' Chandler Bing. Lovably germ-phobic senior writer A.J. Jacobs: Jerry Seinfeld. Lovably no-nonsense senior writer Joe Flint: Dragnet's Joe Friday. Lovably persnickety staff writer Dan Snierson: Friends' Ross Geller. Lovably mocking staff writer Mike Flaherty: The Simpsons' Nelson (''Ha-ha!'') Muntz. Lovably wry correspondent Kristen Baldwin: My So-Called Life's Angela Chase. Just plain lovable editorial assistant Shawna Malcom: that girl from That Girl. And keeping them all in line, the department's executive producer, lovably butt-kicking assistant managing editor Mary Kaye Schilling: Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
The above would like to thank the supporting cast who contributed to this 50-page extravaganza, particularly art director Geraldine Hessler and picture editors Alice Babcock and Deborah Dragon. Without their production values, reading this would be like watching the radio.
And now, to paraphrase Larry Sanders, start flipping.
John Squires President
