The Return of Jezebel James

Amy Sherman-Palladino and her husband and co-producer Daniel were on a panel at this month’s Television Critics Association tour, along with Parker Posey, Lauren Ambrose, and Scott Cohen.

Here are some pictures. And the news wires also have a bunch of photos.

Michael Aussiello posted a minute-by-minute journal of the TCA press tour, including the Jezebel James panel:

THE RETURN OF JEZEBEL JAMES PANEL
2:30 pm: AS-P’s in the house, and she’s wearing a ginormous hat — even for her.

2:38 pm: Interesting. They’re not showing the Jezebel trailer. Not a huge surprise considering AS-P hated it.

2:44 pm: Lena Headey apparently started a trend: Parker Posey is sitting on her feet, too. Maybe it’s something about that particular chair.

2:45 pm: AS-P isn’t finding any challenges to shooting the show in New York, except “we can’t get our dog to crap on cement.”

2:47 pm: Parker Posey never saw Gilmore Girls and, as a result, “never knew the genius that was Amy Sherman-Palladino.”

2:50 pm: On casting ex-Gilmore guy Scott Cohen on Jezebel, AS-P says, “I’ve been dying to work with him. He’s that rare breed: An attractive man who you don’t want to punch in the face because he can’t talk.”

2:52 pm: I think Parker has RLS (restless leg syndrome). That thing’s gonna hurt someone.

2:53 pm: Not a single Gilmore question so far.

2:55 pm: One of many reasons I adore Parker Posey: In the span of three seconds, she lost her train of thought, caught her mic on her foot, uttered the words “Oh, shizzle,” and asked a reporter to repeat his question.

2:58 pm: First Gilmore Girls question! AS-P didn’t watch the finale…

Hmm… Reads like a Twitter transcript, doesn’t it? Funny that even though it’s a Jezebel James panel, Michael doesn’t seem to think it’s important to actually mention Jezebel James. In any case, I think we can excuse him for not knowing that Parker Posey always sits on her feet. (Because he’s only a TV guy, after all.)

Well, that was a waste of time, wasn’t it?

But Variety has a pretty in-depth article on the panel.

It’s hard to believe that anyone could channel Amy’s spirit and words as well as “Gilmore’s” Lauren Graham, but Posey surely does with her own trademark sweetly goofy free-spirit…

The life of a sitcom actress also suits “Jezebel James” co-star Lauren Ambrose (pictured above on the right with Posey), also a newcomer to sitcoms. “Comedy scares me. I like to do things that scare me,” Ambrose said…

The relationship between the two sisters, Posey’s Sarah and Ambrose’s Coco, is intriguing because the women are truly strangers. “They’re adults who are just now figuring out who they are,” Sherman-Palladino said…

And lots more.

Meanwhile, USA Today quotes Amy regarding JJ and her other projects, “I like family dynamics, because I can’t figure out mine.” Plus some more on the history of JJ.

Lastly, Rob McKenzie at the (Canada) National Post, also reported on the Jezebel James panel:

… On the bright side, there’s plenty of time to rework Jezebel. Or so I thought until I asked the Palladinos how much the version shown to critics approximates the version that will be broadcast.

Dan Palladino, an executive producer on Jezebel, as he was on Gilmore, said the two versions are “pretty much exact.” About all that will change is that they’re enlarging the set that is the fancy sister’s home.

In an earlier session, I asked Peter Liguori, chairman of Fox Entertainment, about Jezebel’s loud laughs. His explanation: The pilot was shot before a studio audience, and “sometimes you get a very hot audience.”

Yesterday, the Palladinos noted that Jezebel is shot in New York, and has been warmly received given the scarcity of sitcoms being produced in the city.

“The energy that the audience brings, it’s a great way to work,” Ambrose said.

Jezebel’s studio used to house The Cosby Show, which was the top-rated show of its time. Sherman-Palladino observed that laundry equipment from the prior series was originally cluttering part of the space. Her reaction: “Can you get these f—-ing washer-and-dryers out of our office? There’s your television legacy, ladies and gentlemen.”

And here she is on comic pacing: “It doesn’t have to be ba-da-bump, and then his dick came out. Although we do that, too.”

In the last question of the session, a critic asked Palladino if he ever gets a word in edgewise. His wife did most of the answering. “Look,” she said, “I’m charming and delightful and I’ll f—-ing come down there and show you how. It’s a treat living with me.” She was just joshing.

Hee hee!

-TimK