News from the 2010 Summer TCA Press Tour -- From Some Favorite Colleagues

I'm not at this summer's Television Critics Association press tour, but already, the tour has generated news in both an unexpected executive shift and in the annual awards bestowed upon TV shows and talent by the TCA itself. So today I'm steering TV WORTH WATCHING readers towards reports from the tour by two veteran writers and, I'm proud to say, members of this website's still-widening roster.

One is Canada's Bill Brioux, one of the first TV writers to join me on this site. The other is Ed Bark, one of the few working critics whose tenure predates my own -- and who, while operating his own website and continuing to freelance elsewhere, has agreed to join our merry band as well...

It's a real treat to make room for Ed -- who, while on tour, is reporting exclusively for LocateTV.com. So to give an advance taste, here's a link to Ed's report on the TCA Awards -- which includes, thanks to Ed's usually persistent and accurate reporting, some news about Tom Hanks' next TV project, as well as some hilarious quotes from Lost executive producer Damon Lindelof.

Read his Locate TV account, and get a taste of Ed's writing style, by clicking HERE.

Bill Brioux, too, filed a report on the TCA Awards, for his entertaining website, TV Feeds My Family. You can catch his story by clicking HERE -- and revel in even MORE hilarious quotes from Hanks and Lindelof. And more.

And Bill, in his very next posting for TV Feeds My Family, covered ABC's handling of the sudden executive shift from Entertainment President Stephen McPherson (whose abrupt departure from his post occurred just as the TCA Tour began) to his replacement, Paul Lee (shown at left).

I was excited to hear about this, because Lee, who has spent the last several years at ABC Family turning out successful series for tweens, previously was the programming executive who launched BBC America, and, among other things, thus brought the original Office to American shores. I've spent a little time with Lee over the years talking TV and such -- not much, but enough to assess him as both tasteful and genuine, and a welcome addition to the broadcast TV ranks when taste and vision are in woefully short supply.

Bill's story on how ABC introduced Lee to critics, and swept McPherson under the rug like revisionist party historians after the Russian revolution, is a great read. Disney/ABC executive VP Kevin Brockman dealt with the elephant in the room by bringing one -- a big, stuffed pink one.

Rather than reproduce Bill's press tour report on Lee here, as Bill has permitted, I'll steer you towards his website to read it for yourself. HERE it is.

Welcome to ABC, Paul Lee. Welcome to TVWW, Ed Bark. And welcome back, Bill Brioux...