Who's Not Your Daddy?

TCA PRESS TOUR NOTES:

RANDOM NOTES

No Dirty Deeds
Apparently there was a rumor going around that Bon Scott of Australian rock royals AC/DC was the father of Alex O'Loughlin, who some may remember from "The Shield," and who stars in the upcoming vampire drama "Moonlight." O'Loughlin decided to put those rumors to the rest during his panel, sort of. "I'm pretty sure he's not my dad," he said, jokingly, we think. Then went on to say his mum was no groupie and that his dad is "everyman," a teacher in Sydney.

British (and Aussie) Invasion II:
NBC hasn’t cornered the market on deft American accents by actors from across the pond and down under. Trying to curb their use of words like "loo" and "g’day" this season on the Eye network will be Aussie O’Loughlin, his Brit co-star Sophia (pronounced So-feye-a) Miles and "Viva Laughlin"'s London-born Lloyd Owen and boy from Oz Hugh Jackman.

Not Height Challenged, CBS Party Edition:
Held on the lovely grounds of the Wadsworth Theatre in Hollywood, the CBS fiesta--which included rum and cigars a la "Cane" and casino tables to represent "Viva Laughlin"--was lousy with statuesque actors if short on the network's biggest stars. (The MIA inlcuded "CSI"'s William Petersen, Gary Sinise and David Caruso and Anthony LaPaglia from "Without a Trace.")

D.B. Woodside, formerly President Palmer 2.0 on “24,” soon to be seen as the ethically challenged right hand man of a shady casino owner played by Jackman in “Viva Laughlin,” towering but friendly; Jason Dohring, sigh, bad boy Logan Echolls of “Veronica Mars” and currently prepping to play a 400 year old vampire hedge fund trader in “Moonlight” has a swimmer’s physique and posture to make mom proud; Marin Hinkle, the Boston native who plays Judith Harper, Jon Cryer’s ex, on “Two and a Half Men” is willowy and long of leg; Camryn Manheim, late of “The Practice” and now a regular on “The Ghost Whisperer,” voluptuous in both directions; And Shemar Moore, who we now know, thanks to those recently, um, revealing photos, is not challenged in any physical respect.

In fact, CBS may have had the best median average height of the three network parties I attended with Thomas Gibson of “Criminal Minds,” Judd Hirsch of “Numbers,” Alex O’Loughlin of “Moonlight,” Neil Patrick Harris of “How I Met Your Mother” and Woodside, Dohring, Moore and several others clearing six feet or better. I can hear the promos now, “CBS, number one in viewers and vertical inches!”

Choice Quotes:
"I hope we get all of the critical acclaim and three times the viewership," executive producer Jonathan Prince on how his Latino family drama "Cane" hopes to fill the void left by “The Sopranos.”

"It's exhausting. I'm, like, in the Emerald City and I'm the Wizard of Awesome." Neil Patrick Harris responding to a question during the "How I Met Your Mother" panel about how much pressure he feels in his daily life to be awesome, like his character Barney Stinson. (Swarley to all you big fans).

"Don't get me wrong. It's fun to be able to drive four minutes to the set, work with Jeri Ryan in unbelievable skintight clothes, have a great character to play, make tons of money -- or I could go to Canada and sit in a big (expletive) box and eat stale donuts for 14 weeks while some star misbehaves and does drugs. I go in and do a couple scenes where I’m the bad guy. I love that concept. What am I doing here? In fact, I (expletive) quit." The ever quotable James Woods during the "Shark" panel on the difference between television and film.

"That's very simple. First, you have to have a vampire. Then that vampire drinks your blood, and then you need to have drunk some of their blood before you sort of die for a moment and you come back to life." "Moonlight" executive producer David Greenwalt breaking down how a vampire is sired for the uninitiated.

"I highly recommend, you know, inserting the name of some sort of food product, some sort of mailable food product in the season finale." "Jericho" executive producer Carol Barbee’s advice to fellow tv producers on how to rebound from cancellation.

SARAH RODMAN