CBS News: Barney v. Dwight Smackdown, XOXO at CSI: NY, Ghost Gossip & More

By Korbi Ghosh, Jennifer Godwin Jul 22, 2007 4:44 PMTags
Neil Patrick Harris, TV Critics Association adJennifer Godwin

Jennifer Godwin and Korbi Ghosh here with all the news that’s fit to blog from CBS’s All-Star Party.

No Holds Barred: Korbi here…I got a little face time with the man of the hour at the CBS party, newly Emmy nominated Mr. Neil Patrick Harris, and after a congratulatory hello, and learning that instead of a tux, he fully intends to sport an awesome suit, Barney Stinson-style, to the momentous event, we had this awesome exchange:

So, I talked to Rainn  Wilson this morning.
Oh, cool!

He has sized up his competition…
Uh-oh, what did he say?

He said he can take you all in an ultimate combat fight, in a cage match.
Really?

Reaction?
Doesn’t he wear glasses?…Don’t you think in a cage match it would take a pretty simple maneuver to debilitate Rainn Wilson?

Robert Voets/CBS

The Power of Myth: Jen Godwin, at your service! Talked to Ghost Whisperer stars Jennifer Love Hewitt, David Conrad and Camryn Manheim at the party, and will be bringing you a full-scale G.W. item soon, but for now, let’s throw to Ghost Whisperer exec Ian Sander, who was happy to dish on the show‘s ever-growing mythology. He told me, "The town of Grandview has many secrets, and in fact Grandview is build on another town that had been buried, and under the town she'll discover these ruins that will include spirits, some of whom have a bigger plan that the town of Grandview has been trying to bury. These spirits come to the fore and Jennifer's character has to deal with them." There are also a few secrets to be uncovered about Melinda's MIA (and possibly evil) father and brother.

New York-Style Nooky: I've got good news for all you Danny and Lindsay fans out there: I hear there's plenty of romance to look forward to next season on CSI: NY. Also, office romance though it is, the relationship will not be kept a secret, which is not to say they‘ll be swapping spit at work (contaminates the evidence, you know…) but even though the show won‘t be making "that big a deal" of it at first, they will be together.

Hot Shots: Years of show business experience aside, Charlie Sheen does not pull rank on his Two and a Half Men producers. "Most of the jokes are a word away from being funny or not, so we're radically monitored," he said, when I asked if he ever ad-libs. "But we do have freedom to try infuse a take with our own style. There's a reason we have our jobs, so they will step back and let us mold things." As for upcoming guest stars, Charlie told me, "I think because Rose (Melanie Lynskey, late of Fox's Drive) is coming back, my dad might come back, because he's Rose's dad." Martin Sheen, ya'll. You may have heard of him. Charlie and I also hatched a conspiracy to get Sara Rue back on the show because she, as we agreed, rocks.

Geek Tragedies: As it turns out, I have something in common with Craig Thomas, the co-creator of How I Met Your Mother. As I confessed at the party to Buffy alum Doug Petrie, who's now a co-executive producer on CSI ("Do you know what co-EP means? It means not EP," he jokes), a signal humiliation of my life was encountering Joss Whedon one day while out walking my dog and launching in to such a breathless, lunatic declamation of his virtues that he was forced to slink away in fear, claiming, as he fled into his house, "Um, I forgot my keys." It was with this fresh in my mind that I was overjoyed to hear that Craig Thomas had similarly abased himself in the presence of Ronald D. Moore, the show runner of Battlestar Galactica. As Craig related to myself, Korbi and IGN boys Eric and Travis, he met Moore at a recent writers' cocktail party and subsequently scared the pants off his hero, babbling himself into a conversational corner that involved toilets, fetal response and the poundy drums of the BSG soundtrack. Aw, Craig, I feel your pain, dude, I really do…

Mo' Mo' Jo-Jo? I ran into Alona Tal at the CBS party, and since we get so many emails asking if her character Jo would be returning to Supernatural, I asked them what was going on with her future on the show. Alona's husband told me that Jensen Ackles told him, "If there was a way to get her back he would do it." And Alona told me, "The last thing I heard was that it hadn't worked out the way that the producers had expected, because I look apparently like their 14-year-old sister. I honestly don't know what's going to happen, but if I had the chance, I would love to go back to Supernatural." For now, though, you can get your Alona fix from Cane, where she's set to be a regular, playing the girlfriend of a Duque son.

Quote of the Moment

“When that show ended, you couldn’t get an agent in town to read a Next Gen story.” —Naren Shankar, now show runner of CSI, on starting his career at Star Trek: The Next Generation