Music Monday: Sting A Winter’s Night DVD Coming Soon

On November 24, Sting’s live concert performance at Durham Cathedral will become available on DVD entitled, Sting: A Winter’s Night…Live from Durham Cathedral and this performance will premiere on PBS, Thanksgiving Night!



This live concert performance was filmed at Durham Cathedral near Sting’s hometown of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in Northern England and the DVD features music off his forthcoming album, If On A Winter’s Night which is in stores now. Both the new album and DVD conjure the mood and spirit of the season with a diverse collection of songs, carols and lullabies spanning the centuries.

Sting was joined by musical guests including local Newcastle artists Kathryn Tickell (Northumbrian pipes and fiddle), Peter Tickell (fiddle) and Julian Sutton (Melodeon). Esteemed performers from around the world also include Dominic Miller (guitar), Vincent Ségal (cello), Scottish harpist Mary Macmaster, Ira Coleman (bass), Chris Gekker (trumpet), David Mansfield (violin and mandolin), Cyro Baptista, Bashiri Johnson and Rhani Krija (percussion) and vocalists Laila Biali, Lisa Fischer, Jo Lawry, and Steven Santoro.

Also, Sting: A Winter’s Night…the Documentary features a behind-the-scenes look at the concert’s genesis, beginning with the album recording sessions at Sting’s home in the Italian countryside, leading up to the final rehearsals at Durham Cathedral. Along the way, Sting revisits places from his childhood and reunites with old friends and band mates, swapping stories and reminiscing.

Make sure to get your copy!

**********
Sting: A Winter’s Night…Live from Durham Cathedral arrives in stores on November 24.

Buy Sting's album, If On A Winter’s Night on iTunes here.

Real Life With Married People Season 2 Premiere Day

Season 2 of Real Life With Married People web series premieres tomorrow so make sure to tune in - and catch up on Season 1 today!

Check out the promo for Season 2 below:



You can also now buy Married People tees, totes, buttons, stickers, and more at their new online store.

Check out my interview with Married People director/producer, Deanna Russo. You may have seen her act on recent episodes of Gossip Girl! She was fabulous by the way!

Paul McCartney’s Good Evening NYC

Paul McCartney’s Good Evening New York City releases this week on Nov 17th and is a must have for all Beatles fans. This multi disk CD/DVD set features Paul McCartney’s July ‘09 performance at Citi Field, formerly Shea Stadium, the historic site of The Beatles’ landmark ’65 concert. The set will come in a standard (2 CD + 1 DVD) or 4 disc deluxe (2 CD + 2 DVD) edition. I have had the pleasure of receiving an advanced copy of the standard edition and would like to share my thoughts.

Paul McCartney's historic July 2009 three-night musical christening of New York's Citi Field (formerly Shea Stadium), witnessed by 120,000-plus attendees and universally hailed as a concert experience for the ages, will be immortalized November 17 when Good Evening New York City releases.

The shows were performed on the same hallowed ground that The Beatles, in 1965, played the 34-minute show that would set the precedent for the modern day stadium rock show--and where in 2008 McCartney joined Billy Joel for the final rock show before the original stadium's demolition. As documented on Good Evening New York City, "I'm Down" from the 1965 set list was revived for the Citi Field shows, albeit this time played through a PA that was not overpowered by screaming fans.

The concert footage featured on Good Evening New York City standard edition features concert footage directed by Paul Becher, who has overseen live visuals for McCartney for some 200 performances and counting. The 33-song 2 hour 40 minute performances were shot in High Definition using 15 cameras and digital footage incorporated from 75 Flipcams handed out to fans over the course of the three night stand.



The highlights of this concert include performances of Beatles classics "Drive My Car," "Blackbird," "Eleanor Rigby," "Back In The USSR," "Let It Be," "Hey Jude," "Helter Skelter," "Something," and many more. Hearing McCartney's solo material was a treat as well, as he clearly continued to use his music genius after the Beatles era. What I love about the 2 CDs is that it does not include any of the dialogue in between songs that can be seen and heard on the DVD. The DVD has a beautiful opening, showing video of the Beatles entering the same stadium in 1965 for their historic concert with a narrator detailing the events in 1965, 2008, and 2009. I found that after "Blackbird" the energy in the arena really picks up (if that is possible, as the energy was already soaring). It's hard not to dance to many of the tracks such as "Back In The USSR" and "I'm Down" and it's also hard not to sing along with the crowd during, "Hey Jude" among others. My favorite treat on the DVD is seeing the performance of "I'm Down" which was split, or went back and forth with Paul's 2009 performance and The Beatles' '65 performance at the same stadium. The tribute to John Lennon in the medley in "A Day In The Life" and "Give Peace A Chance" was quite fantastic. Billy Joel joining McCartney for "I Saw Her Standing There" is a once in a lifetime experience that many will be forever grateful was captured so beautifully. Throughout the concert, there are many shots and clips of fans, shot on the Flip Cams and at times it is pleasant to see, to feel the experience the fans felt...but at other times seems to be too much. Although if there is any live recording of Paul's to buy, it would be this recording and only this recording. Paul McCartney's July 17-21 Citi Field stand has already been unanimously hailed by critics and audiences alike as the concert experience of a lifetime and after listening to the CDs and watching the DVD, you will clearly see that to be true.



The deluxe edition bonus DVD will feature footage of McCartney's July 15 performance on the outdoor marquee of the Ed Sullivan Theater, previously available only as a webcast on the Late Show with David Letterman website. The marquee set, which marked McCartney's return to the site of The Beatles U.S. television debut, generated front page headlines and literally stopped traffic as word of mouth generated a crowd that packed Broadway from Columbus Circle to Times Square.

The standard version of Good Evening New York City will be available at participating Starbucks company-operated locations in the U.S. and Canada and wherever music is sold.

TV Week in Review

*Reviews May Contain Spoilers*

Desperate Housewives - Careful the Things You Say



Julie: He doesn't care. He says he loves me.

Lynette: Oh honey, you're smart enough to know that that's a lie, right?

This was a fairly enjoyable episode. When Lynette stopped by Susan's house and found out who Julie had been having an affair with, she should not have promised to not tell Susan. Although when the neighbor threatened Lynette if she told anyone about the relationship, and Lynette went to her husband and together Julie then the police, that was intelligent. Although she should bring Susan into the mix so she knows what is going on before enough time passes where Susan would be angry at her for not telling her. It's hard to say whether I believe it was the neighbor or Katherine who hurt Julie. As for Susan at the police station trying to get the cops on Katherine's tail...that was discouraging since the cops wouldn't help except for someone who knew Susan in the past, played by Kathy Najimy (King of the Hill) which happened to be the one person who hated her in high school. How long will it take for Mike to find out that Susan is in jail and how soon after that will she get out? I'm really over Katherine being a psycho so I hope this storyline wraps up soon. As for the other housewives...Gabby having tutoring troubles and trying to look good and take credit for the housekeeper's tutoring skills was not entertaining to see, it was more frustrating since Gabby told Carlos she could not home school and Carlos dismissed her. Thankfully in the end, Carlos listened to her. What Gabby really needs to work on is having more control over her unruly, disrespectful daughter. As for Bree, she was actually the most boring in this episode. Watching her use Angie's recipe without her consent made me upset because Bree is successful and could have skipped that one job. Lucky for her, she got to hire Angie to help her out with the business so it was a win-win. Although this episode was a win-lose since Bree and Gabby's story lines dragged while the others soared. Looking forward to a better episode next week.

Heroes - Shadow Boxing



Claire: That was fast.

HRG: When my daughter calls, I drop everything.

This was a good episode. Everything flowed along and there was just enough of each storyline. Matt trying to put Sylar in his place was fun until Sylar created an incredible conflict for Matt by killing a man...seeing Matt accept his consequences in the end and getting shot by the police was the hardest thing I have had to watch in awhile on this show. It was bad enough when Matt told Sylar everything and then Sylar said he would go to Nathan to get his body back and then kill everyone who was remotely involved in this effort of getting rid of Sylar. What's in store for Matt and Sylar with an ending like that? As for the other heroes...Finding out the Haitian's name, which is Renee, was very exciting although I have a strong feeling many, including me will still call him, "The Haitian." Anyway, him staying near so that Becky could be seen when she came around was a smart move. It wasn't surprising to find out that Becky was after HRG because the trailer for this week that aired last week gave it away. Although I was hoping that the reason why she was after HRG would be more creative. Revenge is so overplayed. Yawn. As for the Petrellis...nothing happened with Peter and Emma although will Emma go back to medical school? Nathan flying to Peter and telling him that he thought he was in trouble was probably the best moment of this episode. Even though Nathan is dead, seeing Nathan in that moment, you could feel his worry in his voice going to his brother so I wonder how he will tell Peter what is going on. Lastly, there was no Sendhil Ramamurthy in this episode and while I was fine with his character's storyline not furthering along just yet, I'm sure many other fans maybe wondering when this will happen since we saw him appear. Hopefully his storyline will end just as fast as it starts because Mohinder is not at all intriguing. That's all there is to say for this episode, looking forward to next week.

One Tree Hill - Now You Lift Your Eyes to the Sun



Brooke: Stay away from me bitch.

This was one of my favorite episodes in the season. It's a classic in the sense that it has all of the main ingredients of a superb Tree Hill episode. Brooke hesitant about telling Julian that she might be pregnant was definitely understandable given that Julian doesn't want to rush things. Thankfully she didn't tell him since she wasn't pregnant. Although it looks like she wasn't taking her birth control, so if she doesn't buy anymore anytime soon, she could have herself a baby. Although she does need to tell Julian to cut off all contact with what's her name because she keeps reeling Julian in whether on purpose. Julian asking his father to produce with him was quite heartwarming although he need not focus so much on producing with his dad and caring for what's her name, but he needs to focus on Brooke. I'm glad Mouth found Millie's pills and I hope that he along with Julian and Brooke find out about her doing the coke. Anyway, I was wondering when Rachel would interact with the Tree Hill gang so the first scene when she came to Nathan's house was hilarious! What a hello that was on both ends! Even more tense was the hello between Rachel and Brooke. Brooke has nothing to apologize for and I was thrilled when Brooke told Rachel off and slapped her. It was well deserved. It looks like Dan has a better grasp at how to gain redemption than Rachel does. Will Nathan & Haley welcome back Dan into their lives? Lastly, seeing Haley perform was refreshing to see. The song was fabulous and umm, when is the next One Tree Hill soundtrack coming out?

Gossip Girl - They Shoot Humphreys, Don't They?



Blair: This is not like your wedding day. Cotillion only happens once.

The main focus being the cotillion was fine except Blair needs to get out of the high school crowd. She is not in high school and needs to stop worrying about mentoring who is Queen, etc...Eric's nosy escort at first, Kira is someone we will see again since Blair's mission is to make her Queen and Eric's mission is to take Jenny down with her. Blair should see that her games won't work...as Nate escorted Jenny in the end! Looks like J didn't need Eric's help after all...and that's terrible that Jonathan broke up with Eric but Eric should not take his anger over Eric out on Jenny. Eric has no one to blame but himself. Anyway...Chuck forcing Blair and Serena to work things out in the elevator he stopped was more than clever. They have seemed to make up but will Serena do as Blair says and comes to her if she feels tempted to get to know Tripp better? Hopefully, because if not, that's a much bigger mess. Back at college...Olivia's family and professional co-workers forcing her to work a film she didn't want to was frustrating to see. Thankfully the deal was cut off since the director backed out. She had fun regardless at the college, hanging out with Dan and Vanessa, threesoming it up! Good times?! As for the ending...will Lily tell Serena about the letter from her dad or not? Hmm. Looking forward to next week!

90210 - A Trip to the Moon



Liam: I'm going to destroy Jen before she destroys me. I just don't know how I'm going to do it.

Teddy: It's not how you're going to do it. It's how we're going to do it.

Naomi and Adrianna trying to throw Silver a half birthday party was fun to see. Although Ad giving Silver the evil eye when Silver was talking to Ad's ex was awkward. I laughed immediately because of Ad's reaction and Teddy does not even seem like Silver's type! So I was glad that later on, Ad needs to chill and Silver needed to not look guilty for laughing at a joke. Silver's mom throwing her the birthday of a lifetime was fabulous. When she went to 7 years old when she wanted to be an astronaut, 12 years old when she was obsessed with the 80s, and camping was brilliant! Teddy was a good friend for helping out decorating. Hopefully he doesn't want anything from Silver. Mom have plans to throw a barbecue with all Silver's friends for her half birthday was the icing on the cake...if only. Hmm... So Ad using the birthday money to buy pills was low! I was hoping Navid would speak up about Ad buying pills and Annie's bf, Jasper selling. Him calling Ad shows how much of a great friend he is. Ad's a good actress though, making u the mugging lie to Naomi. To touch on Jasper for a moment, when he kissed Annie, he jerked her forward really hard. It makes me think that if he ever found out about Annie killing his uncle, he could become abusive. On a less dramatic note, possibly, it was somewhat surprising for Dixon to find out that Sasha lied since I hadn't expected that to come out, so soon if at all. Dixon throwing the "you're not my real mom" spew because he was angry was maddening to see. Lastly, Liam telling Dixon, Teddy, and Ivy all about Jen was perfect because that's how you take someone down, in a group! I cannot wait to see what they have planned! This was a great episode and I look forward to seeing what has developed in this episode continue to develop in future seasons.

Melrose Place - Ocean



Ella: Oh Jonah, come on! You can't tell me that you haven't at least fantasized about the idea.

Jonah: Yeah Ella, I'm engaged. Remember that minor little detail?

Ella: What does engaged even mean?

The past few episodes have not had that punch and excitement that the first few episode have had. Although there was one moment that I was taken aback on. Ella has feelings and we see that clearly when she comes onto Jonah after they pretend to be a working couple to gain Ella a client. As for the real woman in Jonah's life, at least who is supposed to be... Riley calling the detective about Auggie was smart to do since Auggie's prints on the knife that was used to kill Sydney is out in the open. She has nothing to lose. Someone who seems to have nothing to lose literally is Violet, she seems like a free spirit whose sole mission is to destroy the lives of everyone in the complex. What was the point of her telling Lauren that she and Auggie were getting closer? Why did Lauren seemed surprised, seemed like she cared when she found this out? She was kissing David in the end, not Auggie. Speaking of, it was unfortunate Lauren felt she couldn't handle furthering along her relationship with David because that would be a great couple right there. Getting back to Violet quickly...Violet blackmailing Michael into getting her a lawyer in exchange for not showing the sex video to his wife was a smart move but Michael is smarter so her plan did not work? Does she have something else up her sleeve? Back to David...While David has a right to hang out with his younger brother, if there are obvious restrictions the family has placed then he should respect that and at least tell his father that he would be taking his brother out for a few hours and worked with him by calling him and giving him updates throughout to build trust. Michael's wife telling David that he isn't to come near his brother again was ignorant since that is why the brother was hurt in the first place! David wasn't by his side. Ah well. I did enjoy hearing Hawk Nelson's "Live Life Loud" in this episode. Great choice! Hoping for a more entertaining episode next week though.

V - There Is No Normal Anymore



Erica: I think Dale is working with one of the terrorist groups we were investigating.

I loved that this episode started off right where it left off and the visitors intercepted Erica's phone call to 911. Tyler not listening to his mother and going to the V ship was not a good idea. Hmm...is it possible that Tyler's friend could be a V? I want to start guessing who is a V that was placed on earth before all of the visitors arrived. Anyway, Erica going to Dale's wife to get more information about Dale being a V and trying to find out if the wife was a V was comforting to see because she is determined and the story is moving along. It also seemed obvious that Dale would still be alive since there was so much focus on Erica researching Dale in this episode. Getting to the news... Chad challenging the main V, attempting to put her in her place was a great stand for him...but was it? Speaking of what may or may not be good, Ryan staying with his wife when he could be turning into a V is not at all intelligent so hopefully he will come to understand and accept that if he really loves his wife, he won't stay with her, endanger her. This was a great episode and I look forward to next week.

Glee

Listen to the latest episode of Gleek Squad Podcast.

Flash Forward - Playing Cards with Coyote



Olivia: You look like you had a perfectly ordinary day. Worse than ordinary? Mark?

Mark: I killed a man tonight.

Olivia: What happened?

Mark: I had a shot at changing my future. Of changing our future. And I took it.

The introductions to this show are put together perfectly. As for the story lines in this episode...not sure how long Olivia and Mark planned on vacationing but while I'm glad the investigation is furthering along...I'm sure Mark could have left in the morning and not right away to go back to his job. Anyway, it's hard to say if I would tell Mark about the gift he gave her connecting to her flash forward, but it seems she handled it well. She seems to especially be good at helping Mark see that they can try to change the future, even if she is in denial about it herself. As for Aaaron...why am I not surprised that Aaron's daughter's story is about not trusting the government? It was reassuring to see Aaron's flash forward, and much more of it this time. While it is marvelous that Aaron has his daughter back, it seems a bit sketchy as to why the two would be in Afghanistan 5 months from now. Hopefully them being there is not a set up for anything bad. Lastly, it seems as though Lloyd is a good guy caught up in a terrible experiment, so hopefully he will have the chance to tell the public the truth in next week's episode (if no one kills him). This was a great episode, it wasn't too fast or too slow and there was an even balance between the story lines. Looking forward to next week.

Vampire Diaries - History Repeating



Caroline: I have an idea. Let's have a séance.

Bonnie having communication with her past relative, Emily when she drifted to sleep in class, that was frightening since she ended up in the woods in her pajamas. She shouldn't have tried to throw away something magical. She's a witch, magic will always find her. Umm, but I wasn't expecting Bonnie to go along with Caroline's idea of having a séance. Elena was quite late catching onto Bonnie being possessed by Emily. Caroline I can understand but Elena seems smarter than that. Moving on for a moment...Stefan breaking up with Elena was heartbreaking to see but we all know the breakup won't last. What we did get to enjoy in this episode, since it wasn't those two together, it was seeing Stefan & Damon bond. This was heartwarming to see for the small moment that it was because no matter the level of enemies they are, they are still brothers. The character development really jumped when we found out that Stefan wrapped his head around what Katherine did but Damon is here in 2009 trying to bring her back from the "dead." So getting getting full circle here, in the end Bonnie is almost turned into a vampire by Damon, which would have been crazy to have had a half witch, half vampire running around town! Damon told Stefan he would leave but Stefan is on the move out of town too...but for how long if he even makes it out of town? Stefan and Elena are meant to be together so it can't last that long. This episode was full of anticipation for what would come next and it will be exciting to see how that anticipation continues in each episode after this one.

The Office - Murder



Jim: Alright guys, it's a work day and you guys work here so let's go do some work.

Kevin: Now, Jim telling us all to work. I think that is a very good sign.

It was quite entertaining watching Dwight beat himself up trying to teach self defense to the office. Although things turned serious when the office found out that Dunder Mifflin could declare bankruptcy. Jim did a good job trying to get the office to continue on their regular schedule until the rumors were confirmed. Michael did a good job getting everyone's mind off the possible bad news as well by live role playing a game of Clue as it seems. Erin was extremely excited and chipper about Michael's idea from the very start. Creed apparently was not which brought the laughs. Hearing everyone's attempts at different accents was quite fun. Not sure if Dwight over analyzing the game was irritating or amusing. Although I'll take that over seeing everyone stress over what to do if they lose their jobs. That's not entertaining to see. How will Dunder Mifflin make it past the year? Jim's monologue at the end of the episode was very well written and very well written. Michael saying that this day was the hardest he had ever worked in a long time, while extremly funny, it was so true and his words were full of so much emotion. It was perfect delivery. I love it. As for a subplot, it was really disappointing seeing Erin and Andy play Michael's game after Andy asked her out on a date but they didn't want to be rejected so they both blew it off. Ah man! I screamed at the television screen when that happened. Although this will make them getting together that much more special when it does happen. Could they be Pam & Jim 2? By the way, what a fabulous ending having Pam completely into the game at the end of the work day. Perfect! What an incredibly well written and well performed episode. This is a stand out episode!

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - Mac and Dennis Break Up



Dennis: Dee, Charlie's coming over.

Dee: I don't care!

Dennis: Gee, I don't care either.

Dennis breaking up with Mac was so funny! Dennis trying to bond with his sister was equally funny, especially since Dee was preoccupied with her cat. Mac trying to bond with Charlie and Frank was a lost cause since Mac is so organized and proper while the others are not. When Charlie got to Dee's and found out about Dee's cat stuck in the wall...when he said, "Now you're talking my language" I laughed so much I missed what was being said for a some time. Dee setting up Mac and Dennis was definitely understanding for her since the two were a burden on everyone apart but it was comedic since the two had a great conversation at dinner. The background music will really hit the spot too.

Ugly Betty - Backseat Betty



Betty: I got a tattoo!

Hilda: Hot Stu?

Betty: It's supposed to say hot stuff.

This was quite a memorable episode! Betty getting a hot stuff tattoo is a decision she will regret and most likely will have removed in the next 5 years. Betty spending the day with her high school crush who was Hilda's high school boyfriend was awkward yet cute. Adam Rodriguez guest starring was a superb guest choice. Talk about bringing the hotness. Speaking of...Marc helping Justin out at school yet again was heartwarming. He couldn't quite help him with the Prom Queen award but Justin held his own and made the Suarez family proud! He also announced that he wasn't gay, he was just going along with the image that is attached to him. Hmm..interesting on so many levels. Should labels be embraced? Tough call. As for Mode...Willie trying to get on the cover of a magazine to pay up the guy trying to blackmail her was a good idea, but the execution was not what she had planned. Her next plan to quit and go live with Connor would have been a successful plan but the news of Connor's death was the big shock of the night. Poor Wilhelmina, giving up everything to (save her daughter and) be with Connor. What will she do now, having stepped down from Mode? What will she do for herself and for her daughter? There is so much worry attached to her situation. Unless he faked his death...hmm I don't know. I want to see her make it out on too in the midst of all of this, whatever the situation, so looking forward to next week.

Willie Garson Talks More About White Collar

White Collar had a fabulous premiere week a few short weeks ago. My coverage of the show continues as I present you with a fabulous follow up interview with cast member, Willie Garson.



How did you first hear about and become involved with White Collar?
It’s actually kind of an interesting story. Fox International Television Productions was making an off-market TV show for the international market called Mental, which was shooting in Bogota, Columbia. They asked me to go down and do an episode and I went and did one because I’d never been to Bogota, Colombia.

When I got back, I got a call from them and they said you were wonderful. Would you like a series? I said yes, I was actually looking for one. I like the stability and the new scripts every week. I love that, so I said sure and they sent over the script and it was fantastic.

As you all write about television, you’re aware those good scripts are few and far between right now. It was just a wonderful, fresh and energetic setting for a show that Jeff Easton created. Fox had teamed up already with USA on Burn Notice and done very well. And this was their next partnership with them and instead of just doing like a spin-off of Burn Notice or Burn Notice II, they came up with a fresh, unique twist and so I love the script. It always ends up being the script, always, so that attracted me immediately.

What was it about this particular show or about the script that drew you back to TV?
Well, I found the script to be very interesting and very timely. Certainly, we all have been reading about a lot of people figuring out ways to scam and get money for doing nothing, other than figuring out a way to get over on hard working people. So I thought that was a really interesting time for a show like this.

What would you tell someone who is thinking about watching White Collar?
It’s interesting take on what people will do to try and scam people, so people can know that there are smart people looking out for all of us and trying to bring these people down. I said this before. It’s amazing to me. I worked as a dishwasher for $4 an hour and I know in these times, there are people who have worked really hard and watched their whole life’s savings go away. I think it’s a great twist on seeing how there are people out there with good intentions trying to make sure that everyone kind of takes care of each other and does the right thing.

I think that’s a really good message for right now. And the show is really energetic and fun and fast paced. It’s really unfortunate how horrifying the people are on the show to look at. Tiffani Theissen is just so hideous and Matt Bomer is so unfortunately unattractive, so I think people once they tune in, they’re hooked once you give it a shot.

What’s the most challenging aspect of your role?
That’s an interesting question. The most challenging aspect was for me, my characters have always been very showy. This character kind of operates under the radar and that was an interesting difference in many of the characters I’ve played, certainly from Stanford and certainly from NYPD Blue, certainly a little more behind the scenes kind of guy.

Your character is very interesting and even though you call him under the radar, he kind of has a real dynamic, interesting attitude. How much of that character was your invention?
Well, certainly, the reality is when you buy me, you get what you get, so that’s kind of what they’re trapped with is that I’m a little bit of a hambone. But I find that he’s really only quirky and interesting more so when he’s alone with Neal Caffrey played by Matt Bomer. They have a very strong and deep partnership. So I like to say that he’s more the people person and I’m more the quiet, I should be able to fade into the background if there’s anyone else around. That was interesting for me to try to play.

How would you like to see Mozzie develop as a character on the series?
I think what’s happening now is as the scripts are developing, what’s great is that I’m getting the opportunity to fade into any situation. So whether that means hiding behind the caper or pretending to be someone else kind of a lawyer, a cop, a driver or something that someone would just walk by and then the camera knows that I’m actually deeply involved. But the person that we’re dealing with has no idea that I would be an operative in the caper.

Will we be finding out more of the character’s back story and how you originally came to be friends with Neal?
Oh, God, I hope so. I think we’re slowly coming to terms with how we hooked up and all the absolute crimes we have committed in the past that have brought us to this point.

What are the differences and the similarities between you and your character?
Certainly, the cynicism and figuring out how people try to get away with things. Also, what we’re going to find out is the thrill of just being involved in something bigger than themselves. We have an episode where we talk about why we do what we do and we talk about it, that it doesn’t matter if we’re committing some crime for personal gain or if we’re helping solve a crime. It’s the excitement of living the adventure; it is the enticement. So I definitely feel that myself, the adventure of living is something that I have certainly chosen. So that’s exciting to me.

The differences I think that myself, Willie Garson, is much more conservative in terms of where am I living, where’s my next meal coming from, all of those kinds of things. I’m more of a businessman than Mozzie probably is. So I get a chance with Mozzie to—Mozzie just goes with God and Willie doesn’t.

How much of the season’s story lines were you privy to before you could create your character. Do you know any secrets that we don’t know that helped you make him what he is?
Not yet. I know things will come out in episodes that we shot that haven’t aired yet, but we get the scripts as they roll out. We don’t even have next week’s script yet. So it’s always an interesting surprise to open it up and see where we’re going. As far as the way TV works unless it’s from my understanding, like a show like Lost or something, that they had it all mapped out when they started the show. I think most shows, the writers are following what happens in their minds as they’re writing and seeing where do we go next. I think that’s what’s happening with our show for sure.

In the first episode, you actually tried to meet up with Neal and be very sneaky about it, the whole cigarette scene. The FBI immediately outed you as his contact. If Neal’s big skill is being sneaky and not being caught, what do you think yours is if you were outed basically immediately?
I think mine is how hidden he is. Let them think that I’m no big deal and don’t worry about me. I’m just an idiot. I think that’s the way we’re playing it with my relationship with the FBI. It’s like, don’t worry about him. He’s just some freak. I think as time goes on, we’ll see how my partnership with the FBI develops and how much they’re allowed to deal with me, certainly legally, how they are allowed to work with this kind of questionably legal operative.

What do you enjoy most about being an actor?
What I really enjoy about being an actor is certainly the freedom. I like having a Tuesday off. I like that there’s a new script all the time, so it’s not like, oh, I’m selling another house today or whatever. It’s always different. Every script, every page, every scene has new challenges. The joy of getting to try out different things, try to be different people, try to make writers’ words work. Figuring out, it’s a very cerebral, mental process and I love the activity of it. It’s a wonderful blessing that I get to do this.

When you were on Sex in the City, you worked with mostly a female cast and now you’ve gone to working with mostly a male cast. What are the differences and which do you prefer?
That’s a funky question. You know, it’s a different energy, but actors are strange animals. We all try and take care of each other the same way. I think it’s no secret that women in the entertainment business certainly who have pursued for years a career in acting and theatre are no shrinking violets. So they’re not like the obvious stereotype of a quiet girl, so there’s really not that much difference. Also the men working in theatre are not kind of macho, macho guys. We have to be really in touch with our emotions and very sensitive, sometimes almost in a softer way we have to be able to tap into our emotions as well, so the same for men. So I find actors to be wonderful, interesting, worldly people, whether they’re male or female. So it really doesn’t make that much of a difference to me.

In Sex in the City, New York City itself was as any other character on the show. So do you expect that the White Collar script will treat the city in the same sort of Manhattan centric kind of way?
Well, I do feel already right out of the gate, that’s what I’m hearing from people, certainly, is that we are shooting the city. Which is, I find a lot of shows shoot in New York and they might as well be shooting on a sound stage. Our show if I’m talking in a scene, we really make a strong effort to have basically like the Empire State Building sticking out of my head. There’s such an energy and there’s much architecture and people and vibe on the street, that we try to grab all of that as much as we possibly can. It does provide an energy and just kind of a sea of humanity that really helps us in terms of telling the stories. We so far already just so early on, we’ve shot right at the Central Park fountain. We shot in Grand Central Station, like crazy massive backdrops that really inform how big it is behind all of us.

Being on any TV show, you’re often closely associated with your character. Is that a blessing or a curse from your experience with Sex in the City and then also with your new role?
It’s mostly a blessing. I kind of try and dive in head first. What’s great about television is it gives you over the course of seasons, it gives you such an opportunity to explore everything about a person from top to bottom, which you don’t often get in movies because you only have two hours to tell a story. In this case, certainly in this first season, we have 15 hours to tell a story. So each episode, you try and add one more facet of the person. This character definitely shares a lot of my fear of big business and big government and my kind of cynical outlook. In Sex in the City, I definitely share the kind of snarky wit and style of Stanford. Each of them you find things inside of yourself that hopefully have something to do to form the character that has been created for you. In this case, the wonderful Jeff Easton created this guy and it’s our job to service it and bring what we can to it, so that’s what I’m trying to do here with this guy.

You’ve been in show business for a long time. So I’d like to know your perspective of how or what advice you would give to young people that want to start out in show business, how to go about it.
I would say think of anything else that you could do for a living. And then if you have truly exhausted every possibility, then try it. It’s a very hard thing right now for people. We’re not living in a climate that really supports it. Although, I personally feel now in difficult times, I feel like we need it more than ever before. I approach the business side of it much like a businessman. Be better prepared. Be better at what you do and work really, really hard and just worry about the work, rather than in our current culture of easy reality fame and all of that. I think if you concentrate on your work, eventually someone is going to notice.

Is your adoption finalized yet?
Not yet, but we’re inching closer, hopefully by the end of the year, so a bunch of things happened last week. And we’re getting closer and closer and then it will be done. I will be done with the adoption process, which I highly recommend to everyone who’s thinking about it. I say just jump right in and do it. There’s a lot of kids who need a home.

Tune into White Collar Fridays at 10/9c on USA Network.

Official Best of Fest

Official Best of Fest, an international posse of film curators, manage to see the majority of the 25,000 films made every year, and have launched a series of 'The Best Films You've Never Seen." These compilations are categorized, not by genre but by the experience of watching the film or the company you watch it with. They include:

*Award-winning films that Inspire
*Award-winning films to make you Laugh
*Award-winning films about Real People
*Award-winning films for Family
*Award-winning Chick Flicks
*Award-winning films for Kids
*Award-winning films for Dog Lovers
*Award-winning films for a Girls Night In
*Award-winning films for Fathers, Sons, and Brothers
*Award-winning films about Romance



These gift sets are in response to film fans who ask, "Where have all of the good movies gone?" Official Best of Fest's answer is, "they're still being made, you just need to know where to find them". That is what Official Best of Fest aims to do---"help a quality starved public, junk-food fed audience get cinematic nourishment", says Indie Filmmaker and Founder Rick Stevenson.

Official Best of Fest is available online or in select Nordstrom, Whole Foods, Deseret Book and gift stores nationwide.

Follow Up with Tiffani Thiessen

White Collar fans, here's a treat for you! Tiffani Thiessen has taken some time out to talk to us bloggers about the show yet again! Thanks Tiffani! Enjoy fans!



As a first-time mother, how do you think that it will play out balancing your roles and responsibilities of motherhood and your part on White Collar?
You know, that’s a very good question in the sense that I really don’t know being that I am a first-time mom, so it’ll be a very different kind of thing for me being that I’ll be working and being a mother at the same time. There are millions of people who do it. My mom did it herself, so I know I can handle it, but it’ll be a very new experience, so it’s hard to say what is going to be like. It’ll be all brand new for me.

Do you know if your pregnancy will be incorporated into the show?
I don’t know. That’s actually going to be up to the writers and the executive producers and USA and Fox and everybody involved. I’m going to be still somewhat not too pregnant along when we’re finally coming to the end of the season. We really don’t have too much more left, so it’s really up to them if they want to. I’m open to whatever they feel. We tried to time it to a certain degree so I wouldn’t show too, too much.

Are you a fan of eccentric baby names, or are we going to get closer to something like Jessica and John…
We’re tooling around with a ton of names. We haven’t come up with anything solid yet. We do have some favorites, and I promise you, they’re nothing crazy. We’re very traditional people, me being from California and my husband from Texas. Yes, you’re not going to find any freaky names. I promise.

What made you want to be a part of this show?
Ever since I read the script, which has been a little over a year ago now, I fell in love with it. I fell in love with the characters. I fell in love with the show, and more and more, when the cast was brought together, the more excitement I had for the show and wanting to be a part of it. This is really the first time I feel like in my whole entire career which has been over 25, 26 years of doing this that I finally feel like I’m kind of playing a role a little closer to home for me, which is kind of exciting.

What sort of background can we expect as we move along?
I think you’ll start to see background on all of our characters, especially the guys. Surely, this show is definitely the guys’ show. It’s Matt and Tim’s show, and Willie and I definitely play more of a supporting role, but you will definitely see much more of me in the further episodes as you’re coming along. Last week or two weeks ago you saw a little bit more of what I really do for a living and kind of my career, which is really nice to kind of see because we really never saw that in the pilot, and it was something that we kind of came up with actually after we shot the pilot.

They’re definitely putting more of what I do outside of my relationship with Tim into the show a little bit, and that’ll continue on even, hopefully, in seasons from here on out, which hopefully there’ll be five to ten years of White Collar. In general, I can’t give you exact specifics, ideas of what’s going to be happening, but I can promise you you’ll see a lot more of her.

What would you say to those that haven’t seen White Collar yet?
Oh gosh, well, besides having really cute guys on the show, it’s definitely the type of TV and movies that I like to see. I’m a huge fan of The Thomas Crown Affair and those kinds of feels of movies and shows and 48 Hours, which is so interesting, Catch Me If You Can, things like that. If people are really into those kinds of movies and those kind of story-telling, they have to watch this show. It is so absolutely entertaining. The characters are so rich and so fun to watch and follow.

As well as you see New York City in a completely different way. It’s shot in a beautiful way. It’s interesting, a lot of shows that are shot in New York City can be a little more dark and gray, and this show really, I think, kind of captures New York City in a really beautiful light, and it’s nice.

What are the challenges that you have if any in creating a new character knowing that you have a career behind you?
Yes, well, it’s bittersweet at times. There’s good and bad. There are people who of course followed my career and who have loved the shows that I’ve done in the past and are always up to seeing something new of myself or any of my past co-stars, which is really wonderful. Then there’s always people who have opinions, and of course, that’s how the world works, and that’s A-OK.

Some people were really open and loving to the fact that I’m actually playing a role that’s quite different than what I’ve played in the past. Like I said, it’s definitely much more close to home for me, this character, but some people had a hard time with it. Some people didn’t believe the relationship between Tim and I, which is so funny to me because we had chemistry from day one, but that’s how the entertainment business works. That’s how people are, and that’s okay. Everybody has their opinions.

We’ve seen on the show that Neal has escaped from prison for love. What’s the most romantic thing a guy’s ever done for you, and then maybe what is the cheesiest thing a guy’s ever done for you?
Well, my husband himself is definitely romantic. I mean, he is romantic almost every day whether it’s leaving me cute little notes somewhere throughout the house or the way he proposed to just the day we got married. He was amazing and romantic in everything he did, so I’m blessed to have a husband like that. The cheesiest, that would be really hard. I wouldn’t want to out anybody because I feel like anybody who wants to put themselves and their heart out there is a wonderful thing, and we shouldn’t put them down for it, right?

On television, there tends to be a fine line between that perfect supportive spouse that’s believable and the one that is so over the top and unrealistic. You are doing a wonderful job being that supportive spouse that we definitely believe. How do you strike that balance, and how do you plan to keep it going?
Thank you so much first of all. That’s very sweet of you to say. That means a lot to me because I really try, and Tim and I both have long talks about this as well as our creator, Jeff, that we really wanted this to be a relationship that does work on TV, not one that has a lot of problems, not one that you constantly see drama, which you see a lot on TV.

Funny enough, Tim and I come from marriages that work, that really do work like that, so I think we really take it from just our own experiences. Tim’s been married for quite some time to a wonderful woman and has two great kids. My husband and I have this wonderful relationship and humor has a lot to do with it, communication, all those things I feel that are so, so important. I take those just being from my parents who’ve been married for over 45 years. My grandparents were married for 67 years. It’s important, so I feel like I take from my own life and really try to bring what I can to the relationship and the characters.

You mentioned that you had some influence on the career of your character. That being said, are you going to be able to also provide future input into shaping and developing her as well? I know that the producers and writers have the job of carrying that out, but would you have a chance to put some input into that?
It’s interesting. We are very lucky to be on a show (and that’s all of us across the board) that our executive producers and writers are very open to anything we have to say, which is so nice because not a lot of shows are like that. They believe a collaboration always works best, and not that we are there writing the show, nor is that what we’re supposed to be doing, but they’re always very open to any time we have a question or concern or have an idea, they’re always open. It’s nice to be able to get on the phone or sit down with them and talk with them about it, and we all feel that way, which is really great.

Did you ever think that your event planning skills would be useful to the FBI, and when will they bring you in as an official paid consultant?
I know, really. I don’t know. That’s a good question. That could actually be kind of funny. No, it was actually when we shot that episode, it was an episode we shot a little later, and they really enjoyed the episode so much, they pulled it up and made it a little closer to the beginning of the show, which is great. It was really fun to do, and it was really fun to work more with Matt and the guys in general, which was great. Again, like I had mentioned, you’ll see certain episodes that I might be a little heavier in, but the event planning thing is exciting because, like I said, I’ve always wanted to do that on the side or if I ever wanted to give up acting, that’s what I wanted to do. It’s kind of fun to live out a little bit of a dream of mine on my actual job now.

Have you gotten to work a lot with Willie and Natalie who just joined the cast?
I got to work with Natalie once or twice, I think, a few weeks ago, which was fun, very briefly, though. Willie, I still have not worked with and I don’t know if we’ll ever see the two of them in the same scene together because their story lines are so separated, but it would be fun because I love Willie, and I’ve know Willie for years. On our off days, we spend a lot of time together. We’re actually quite good friends. It’s just funny how we don’t actually work together on the show.

Can you tell us maybe a funny or interesting story that has happened behind the scenes of White Collar?
I get to see Willie’s humor off set when we’re just hanging the two of us, but Matt and Tim, it’s always a singing-fest, dancing-fest, a joke-fest when we’re not literally in the scene working. It’s quite enjoyable, it really is. I feel very blessed and very lucky to be working with the people that I’m working with.

A great scene is when you give your husband back his original watch. Can you explain to me a little bit about that? It seemed a bit more metaphorical.
Yes, it turned out to be such a great scene, and it was such a nice story line to really see the intimacy and the realness between Peter and Elizabeth, which was really nice. I think Elizabeth’s character is always worried about her husband because of what he does for a living. I think she’s used to it, but I don’t think it takes the worry away from her, and I think it was her way of letting Peter know that she needs to know he’s okay. I do it to my husband all the time where I’m shopping for him, and I may buy him things that I think are great, but they’re not my husband, and I think it was her way of letting him know that I was wrong, and I totally took it in a wrong way, and I need you to be you, especially on such an important day. It was a really nice touch.

Catch up on White Collar tomorrow morning, when the first 3 episodes will air back to back!

Don’t forget to catch tomorrow night’s all new episode of White Collar on USA at 10/9c.