TV stars have their say
BEVERLY HILLS — The Television Critics Association's semi-annual press tour, offering a glimpse of the new TV season, wrapped up late last week. But not without its share of quotable celebrities dishing on their shows and co-stars. A sampling:
Rob Lowe, on whether he trades notes about handsomeness with fellow Fox star John Stamos: "As a founding member of Jimmy Kimmel’s handsome men’s club, Stamos has been up for membership. So far, the board hasn’t voted him in yet." Shouted Stamos: "Tell the truth! We've dated for years."
Stephen Colbert, on the pitfalls of being off the air for nearly nine months: "I’m not going to name any names, but let’s just say, I want to do jokes on Donald Trump so badly, and I have no venue. So, right now, I’m just dry-Trumping."
Kermit the Frog, revealing a breakup: "Piggy and I have gone our separate ways romantically. I think it’s just kind of coming out in the press now. It can be tough to work with your ex, you know. It can be tough to be the executive producer on your ex’s late-night TV show, especially when your ex is a pig."
Shonda Rhimes, on how her Scandal character Olivia Pope would "handle" Donald Trump: "Do you think she would tell him to do something about the hair?" Ellen Pompeo, Grey's Anatomy: "You know, you could send him over to Meredith, and I could cut his vocal cords out."
Trevor Noah, on how he'll differ from Daily Show predecessor Jon Stewart: "The way you look at a story depends on your points of view. The way you look at comedy depends on your points of view. So, Jon is a white, 52-year-old Jewish guy that grew up in Jersey. I am a 31-year-old half -black, half-white South African who has lived in America for a few years on and off."
Jennifer Grey of Amazon's Red Oaks, shilling for her employer: "Amazon Prime has changed my life. I haven’t been in a store in years. We were early adopters, and every day, ding-dong, I open the box. It’s like Christmas. We’re so old that we forget that we ordered it." Co-star Paul Reiser: "Is she getting some extra check that we’re not getting?"
Calista Flockhart on her hope for Supergirl: "One of the things I love about this show is it’s a real celebration of girl power. She’s like, 'I’m a girl and I’m awesome, and I’m not going to apologize for that.' I also just want to say for the record that I think it would be a really good idea if Cat becomes romantically involved with Superman. Wouldn’t that be fun? I’m just saying."
Dianne Wiest of CBS's Life in Pieces on her viewing habits: "I used to watch TV, but I got a new TV and — this is a few years ago — and I’ve broken it twice and now my children don’t allow me near it. Unless I’m watching Game of Thrones, which they watch. Co-star Colin Hanks: "I really want to watch Game of Thrones with you so bad."
Jamie Lee Curtis of Fox's Scream Queens on how she keeps from cracking up during filming: Kevin Kline, to this day, doesn’t speak to me because I ruined more great takes from him on A Fish Called Wanda. I hold either a pushpin or a toothpick between my fingers, and I push really hard during every scene. Watch my hand in the next time you see a scene. My hand is below the frame (and) ... I am squeezing a pushpin between my fingers to make it hurt really bad."
Bruce Campbell of Ash vs. Evil Dead: I’m attracted to weird material. And I don’t mind being in cheeseball exploitation movies. It doesn’t bother me in the least, because B movies can do things that are way more interesting sometimes ... because you don’t have the restrictions. You don’t have to please 100 million people. If your movie only costs half a million dollars, you only have to please, like, eight people."
Aline Brosh McKenna, co-creator of CW's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, on a tryout by Santino Fontana: (Star and co-creator) Rachel (Bloom) called me and said, "You have to see this audition. This is an amazing audition. It's Hans in Frozen." And I thought his name was Hansen Frozen ... It was not."