Call Me Kat

Jordan brought an impish charm to TV

(Finding Leslie Jordan’s final TV work on Fox has been a bit tricky. His “Call Me Kat” episode, on Nov. 3, was bumped by the World Series; so was his visit to “The Masked Singer” on Nov. 2. The latter was rescheduled for 8 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 6 … but will be bumped again, if the Series goes to seven games. Meanwhile, here’s the story I wrote after Jordan died in a car accident.)  
When Leslie Jordan first got there, Hollywood knew what a star should look like.
That was 40 years ago, when TV was dominated by Tom Selleck and Selleck types. A star would be 6-foot-4, handsome, a lades man, with a Midwestern-type voice.
And Jordan (shown here), who died Monday (Oct. 24) at 67, was the exact opposite. He was 4-foot-11, gay, with an impish charm and a pronounced Tennessee accent. “I realized that my job was the funny guy that comes in with the zingers,” he told the Television Critics Association in 2018. Read more…

Jordan brought a new version of TV stardom

When Leslie Jordan first got there, Hollywood knew what a star should look like.
That was 40 years ago, when TV was dominated by Tom Selleck and Selleck types. A star would be 6-foot-4, handsome, a lades man, with a Midwestern-type voice.
And Jordan (shown here), who died Monday (Oct. 24), was the exact opposite. He was 4-foot-11, gay, with an impish charm and a pronounced Tennessee accent.
“I realized that my job was the funny guy that comes in with the zingers,” he told the Television Critics Association in 2018. Read more…

Bialik detoured into stardom (again)

In the new comedy “Call Me Kat,” life has taken a detour.
Kat didn’t expect to be the owner of a cat cafe. No one does.
But Mayim Bialik, who stars, understands the neat randomness of life. She is, after all, a neuroscientist who returned to acting, almost by accident.
“I was running out of health insurance,” Bialik (shown here with co-star Cheyenne Jackson) told the Television Critics Association. “I went back to acting so I could literally just get enough for insurance to cover my toddler and my infant.” Then she overachieved: She did nine seasons on “The Big Bang Theory,” which became TV’s most-watched comedy. Now she stars in “Kat,” produced by her “Big Bang” husband, Jim Parsons. Read more…

“Equalizer,” others, get football boost

Struggling to launch a handful of new shows, the networks turn to the one thing they can count on – football.
CBS has given its best spot – after the Super Bowl on Feb. 7 – to “The Equalizer” (shown here) The show – a reboot starring Queen Latifah – will remain on Sundays, starting 8 p.m. Feb. 14.
Earlier, Fox decided to launch both of its new shows after NFL doubleheaders.
“The Masked Dancer” will debut Dec. 27, then settle into a temporary spot at 8 p.m. Wednesdays. “Call Me Kat,” a Mayim Bialik comedy, debuts Jan. 3, then moves to 9 p.m. Wednesdays. Read more…

Mid-season plans set: from old “Idol” to new “Masked Dancer”

Just as the fall TV shows belatedly arrive, there’s a bonus: Two networks – ABC and Fox – have announced mid-season plans.
For ABC, that ranges from “The Bachelor” on Jan. 4 to “American Idol” on Valentine’s Day. For Fox, it includes January starts for six scripted shows – five of them returning, plus a new comedy that Jim Parsons is producing, with Mayim Bialik (his “Big Bang” wife) as star – along with “Hell’s Kitchen” and the new (shown here) “Masked Dancer.”
Read more…