The CBS Television Studios Summer Press Day took place on Monday at the London Hotel in West Hollywood. The day consisted of four panels that highlighted a few of shows that will be part of the 2015 CBS summer line-up.
The first panel of the day was for “The Late Late Show with James Corden.” James Corden (Host), Ben Winston (Executive Producer), and Rob Crabbe (Executive Producer) fielded questions from the media and spoke about the recent success of the show that just wrapped its 30th episode. When asked if David Letterman had an influence on him, James responded by sharing that he first became familiar with the Late Show with David Letterman after moving to New York City. He was extremely homesick and the show helped provide him with some late night companionship. James said this of Letterman “I think I found a connection with him in the way that so many others have. And in a much deeper sense, over the last 30 years, it suddenly became clear to me the power that late night hosts have. It’s like you’re checking in with a friend.”
James and his team were very humble, they are happy that the show has done well so far and they are hopeful that the success will continue. At the conclusion of the panel James left us with this, “I don’t know how long the show will last, but to think there might be somebody, somewhere, in one place, who finds that connection with our show that I found with Letterman on those lonely nights would be thrilling for us.”
Be on the lookout for more Carpool Karaoke this summer!
Next up was the cast and crew of “Extant” which included Halle Barry, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Mickey Fisher (Creator/Executive Producer), Liz Kruger (Executive Producer), and Craig Shapiro (Executive Producer). This panel focused on the growth of the show’s characters and the cohabitation of robots, aliens, and humans. Halle was asked about the transition of her character since the start of the season, and she answered by sharing that “Molly did struggle last year. She wanted a child of her own. I think she wanted that right of passage, to birth a child and have that experience that is largely in our nature as women. So accepting a robot didn’t seem like something Molly could do. She questioned if she could have a human exchange with a robot.”
When discussing what watchers can expect this season Liz Kruger one of the EPs said, “the show is action-packed this year. Its got a mystery that runs through all 13 episodes. It’s that mystery that drives the story and Halle’s character, Molly, is at the center of it and when she crosses paths with Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s character, JD Richter, a cop of the future, on a crime scene, this very unlikely duo finds themselves locked together to solve the mystery that’s at the center of the show.”
“Extant” is definitely going to take things to new heights this year! The upcoming season will premier Wednesday, July 1st at 10 p.m. on CBS.
The “Under The Dome” panel featured Dean Norris, Marg Helgenberger, Neal Baer (Executive Producer), and Tim Schlattmann (Executive Producer). Neal jumped right into things as he opened the discussion up by letting us know www.eta-i.org/xanax.html that “lots is happening Under The Dome in Chester’s Mill and we’re very excited about this season, because unlike the first two seasons where we had to get you sort of acclimated, we will tell you why the dome has come down and what it’s about.”
Throughout the Q & A session, one thing that remained constant was the fact that “Under The Dome” is at a turning point and this season the producers are looking to tie things together so that viewers have a complete understanding of what is going on. Schlattmann who joined the show this year as an EP mentioned that when he started he felt like he was “walking into a room that had the Christmas tree with all the presents underneath…and that’s the work that Neal and the writers have done up to this point.” He feels his contributions are the equivalent of opening said presents and adding more gifts that will eventually be unwrapped by those that tune-in to the show.
“Under The Dome” will air on its new night, Thursday, June 25th, at 9:00 p.m., with a special two-hour premiere event on CBS.
Last but not least was the panel for “Zoo.” James Wolk, Nonso Anozie, Nora Arnezeder, James Patterson (Executive Producer), Jeff Pinkner (Executive Producer), Scott Rosenberg (Executive Producer), and Cathy Konrad (Executive Producer) were in attendance.
Jeff Pinkner gave us an introduction to “Zoo” by letting us know that the show “originated in the mind of this man, the incredibly fertile mind of James Patterson.”
When asked how this show turned novel came along Patterson answered with “I kept seeing stories about odd behavior around the world, alligators in Florida and crocodiles doing weird things in Africa and remember the story about the fish jumping into the boats in Michigan. And that sort of spurred me into, okay, what is going on and why is this going on and is there a novel here, is there something kind of cool here.”
Turns out there was something very cool there and CBS took hold of it and decided to run with it! Cathy Konrad one of the EPs broke down how they decided to turn the novel into a television series, “we were concocting it initially as a feature film and thinking about it on kind of a different level which was actually scaled it — kind of make a more of a contained thriller, like a Cloverfield or a District 9. But as we got under the scenes and read between the lines of the book and we kept challenging the material in our creative meetings, it became clear that there was such a bigger world to explore with this, and that teaching it down wouldn’t really do it justice.”
When speaking on the dynamic of the show Jeff shared that “it’s very, very much an ensemble show, with the story being told through all of the characters’ journeys. So every episode is a challenge to our production crew, to us, to the cast and it’s kept it very fun and fresh for us and hopefully for you guys as well.”
Be sure to check out “Zoo” when it premieres Tuesday, June 30th, at 9 p.m.