New Hasselhoff sitcom: "News to Me" overview

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New Hasselhoff sitcom: "News to Me" overview

Post by Michael Pajaro » Thu Apr 29, 2004 12:59 pm

I went to the taping of the new David Hasselhoff sitcom pilot. Major-mega thanks to Neil for posting the info about getting tickets- I wouldn’t have thought to try and go see it had he not posted his message.

“News to Me” (tentative title) was created by Joel Stein and is loosely based on his experiences as a young reporter at Time Magazine. In the sitcom, Colin Hanks (Tom’s son, “Orange County”) plays Joel Green, a Princeton writer newly hired at American Weekly magazine. Hanks is well-cast; although the show is not a strict biography, he looks like a young Joel Stein and he has a bit of that geeky boy-next-store innocence that worked so well for Topher Grace (That 70’s Show). His soon-to-be love interest is played by Andrea Sanders (don’t recognize her.) She’s an over-achieving college-mate of Joel’s who resents the way his humorous, satirical writing style gets more attention than her true journalism.

“C.C.”, the managing editor and Joel’s boss, is played by Sheryl Lee Ralph (Moesha). She’s all business and wants nothing more than to get rid of Joel. She is stuck with him however because the editor in chief, played by Roger Rees (“Robin Colcord” from Cheers) likes Joel. He’s a bit of an eccentric, and wants to start attracting younger readers to the magazine.

David Hasselhoff plays war-correspondent “Stryker Langley”, a larger-than-life hero in his own eyes. Sharon Lawrence (NYPD Blue) is J.D., a tough-as-nails, name-dropping White House reporter. She and Stryker have a relationship that runs from icy cold to steamy hot and back again in a matter of minutes.



Even when trying to be as objective as possible, I still have to say that Hasselhoff is probably the strongest part of the show. That may be because his character is written a bit over-the-top so it allows him more freedom to have fun with it. But he just seems very natural in the role.

At the beginning of the taping, when the cast was being introduced, Hasselhoff did a Baywatch slo-motion run onto the stage. Always a crowd-pleaser. Later, between scenes, the audience host was giving some background information about the show and mentioned Hasselhoff. David overheard his name, and started talking to his watch. The host said “Uh oh, we were afraid of this… looks like Hasselhoff thinks he’s on Knight Rider again.” That got a HUGE response.

This was a pilot for ABC. We don’t know if they will actually turn it into a series. I’d like to see the writers add a bit more edge and satire (which is what Joel Stein is known for) but they may have intentionally been a bit conservative with the first episode so it will be easier to sell. If ABC doesn’t want it, they might be able to bring it to another network. It’s not the next “Seinfeld”, but it’s certainly better than a lot of the fluff we saw on air last year.
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Post by knightshade » Thu Apr 29, 2004 7:16 pm

Very cool. Thanks for the behind the scenes info. Sounds like you had fun.

Oh to live in LA. :wink:

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Post by SwEeTiNsAnItY » Fri Apr 30, 2004 1:57 am

I kinda wanted to go but didn't know of anyone who'd wanna go with me :( Too bad, it sounded like fun... even though I'm not a big fan of sitcoms it sounds kinda promising, I'd check it out at least once if it makes production...

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Post by ocAdamR » Fri Apr 30, 2004 1:01 pm

Thanks for the update Mike P! I would have gone too , but living/working in the OC and them bumping up the taping time an hour earlier, I wasn't able to make it. :? [Oh the 405/605/I5/101 rush hour traffic! :evil: ]

You wouldn't happen to be going to the Nike Art of Speed party in Venice tonight, would you?
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Post by Michael Pajaro » Fri Apr 30, 2004 1:02 pm

Although I'm glad I went, sitcom tapings aren't all fun and games. I was in my seat at 5:00 and didn't get out until after 11:00. No dinner break. No bathroom break. (you could probably sneak out in an emergency.) A scene may be be funny the first time you see it, but by the 4th or 5th take it gets pretty hard to fake the laughter.

There were 4 little old ladies sitting behind me who were talking to another guy. The guy asked him if they knew who the actors were. One of them said something like "Well I heard that Hasselhoff was in Baywatch but I never saw it." (not surprising). The guy then asked "well what about Knight Rider? Do you remember that?" (silence) "Michael Knight? With the talking car?" Nothing.

It was killing me.
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Post by ocAdamR » Fri Apr 30, 2004 1:05 pm

It's all fun and games until someone doesn't know about Knight Rider. :evil:

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Post by Michael Pajaro » Fri Apr 30, 2004 5:11 pm

ocAdamR wrote:You wouldn't happen to be going to the Nike Art of Speed party in Venice tonight, would you?
Can't say that I am... No.
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Re: New Hasselhoff sitcom: "News to Me" overview

Post by april curtis » Tue May 04, 2004 12:50 am

Major-mega thanks to Neil for posting the info about getting tickets-


where is this posting with the info, i can't find it
thanks in advance :?:

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Post by Michael Pajaro » Tue May 04, 2004 1:28 am

This was a one-time-only taping, at least for now. You can't get tickets any more. If it does become an actual series, then they will tape more episodes this summer and we can try to get updated ticket info.
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Post by neps » Tue May 25, 2004 12:15 pm

Really glad you were able to go Mike. It looks like ABC decided not to pick it up for fall, I can't find an exact press release to see if they've optioned it for a mid season replacement or not, but ABC turned down pilots with Jessica Simpson, Jennifer Love Hewitt and John Stamos.

http://abc.go.com/primetime/schedule/index.html

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Post by SwEeTiNsAnItY » Tue May 25, 2004 9:03 pm

Aw, well, at least David wasn't the only one.

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