October Road News & Article Thread #1

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Please al October Road news and articles in this thread.

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Comes now the curious case of October Road, which is not a bad little show and which gets a plum, post-Grey's Anatomy timeslot for the next few weeks, and yet is going on the air with nearly no advance warning to viewers.

That last part is something of a shame, because while its ambitions are not on the scale of, say, Lost, there are a few nice performances and appealingly quirky characters in there. It's territory that's been mined numerous times before, but the little touches make it a pleasant enough way to spend an hour.

The story centers on Nick Garrett (Bryan Greenberg, One Tree Hill), a young writer whose best-selling first novel sold out a lot of his old friends in Knights Ridge, Mass. -- most notably his ex-girlfriend, Hannah (That '70s Show's Laura Prepon, who shows range well beyond her sitcom roots).

Cursed with writer's block, Nick heads home, where he comes face to face with the people he wrote about. Some of them, like his air-band pals Ikey (Evan Jones) and Owen Rowan (Brad William Henke, in between Prepon and Greenberg in the photo), don't seem to mind. Hannah and Nick's former best friend Eddie (George Stults), though, aren't so easy to win back. Oh, and Hannah has a 10-year-old son with a peanut allergy, just like Nick. So there's another reason to stay.

You sort of know where this is going -- heck, it even comes with Hannah being involved with the former high-school bully (Warren Christie). Creators Scott Rosenberg, Andre Nemec and Josh Appelbaum manage to be specific enough with their characters, though, that you can enjoy the small moments and sort of disregard the fact that you're pretty sure what comes next.

Rosenberg wrote the underrated movie Beautiful Girls, which was also about a small-town homecoming, and its DNA is readily apparent in the show -- as are, apparently, the feelings Rosenberg hurt in writing the film. Maybe because it's so personal, October Road has a strong sense of place, aided, oddly enough, by a familiar classic-rock soundtrack (when was the last time you heard Jackson Browne's "The Pretender" on TV?).

Which brings me back to the question of ABC's scheduling of the series. The network must like it at least a little, or otherwise it wouldn't be burning an original Grey's Anatomy in mid-March to help launch it.

But it's going on the air a scant three weeks after the announcement of its premiere, which is hardly time to build buzz for a show, big lead-in or no big lead-in. Maybe that'll be enough, and the Grey's viewers will stick around for October Road. But it's an awful lot to ask.

http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethe..._october_.html

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Laura Prepon has a gift for playing dazzling women who outshine the men in their orbit. Prepon logged eight years as Donna, the strapping and sarcastic redhead on "That '70s Show." The actress returns in ABC's "October Road," an uneven and often pretentious drama that airs at 10 p.m. EDT tonight.

Despite the show's flaws, Prepon is incandescent. She portrays Hannah Daniels, the young woman left behind by the thoughtless hero. This time around, Prepon is blond, bitter and bewitching. Prepon makes that bitterness understandable, even attractive.

"October Road" asks you to care about Nick Garrett (Bryan Greenberg), who is talented, handsome and oh so self-absorbed.

Nick loved Hannah, went backpacking in Europe and promised to return in six weeks. He didn't. He didn't even phone home -- the cad.

Instead, he wrote a best-selling novel -- adapted into a movie -- that dumped on his friends in Knights Ridge, Mass.

Ten years later, Nick comes home. His reason is selfish: He longs to overcome his writer's block. What we have here, viewers, is a jerk, but one who could snap out of it.

Back in his hometown, Nick finds resentment, secrets and weird dialogue. Why is it that dramas about writers usually sound unnatural?

Hannah has a son, Sam (Slade Pearce), nearly 10, who talks in a precocious manner. Do the math, and you'll have a major clue to Hannah's resentment.

Disney-owned ABC is hoping that "October Road" will be another hit in a season that includes "Ugly Betty" and "Brothers & Sisters." "October Road" lands in the plum slot after "Grey's Anatomy," where "Six Degrees" bombed and "Men in Trees" found modest success. ("Men in Trees" will return to the time slot later, and "Six Degrees" shifts to 9 p.m. Fridays, starting tomorrow.)

"October Road" is another show in which good-looking actors wrestle with mushy situations. The writing usually pins them.

The actresses fare better and offer incentives to watch. In the second episode, Penny Johnson Jerald of "24" is forceful and sexy as a college dean. Rebecca Field is touching as Janet, a bartender who finds unexpected romance. Odette Yustman is confident as Aubrey, a college student attracted to Nick.

A recurring theme in this show: When will the men grow up? That approach could find a wide audience among women.

Most of Nick's male pals are trapped. Phil (Jay Paulson) hasn't left his house since the 2001 terrorist attacks. Ikey (Evan Jones) hides a devastating secret. Nick's best friend, Eddie (Geoff Stults), is furious with the hero.

"October Road" has burdened Nick with too many inexplicable decisions in the past. Still, Greenberg, who appeared on "One Tree Hill" and played Meryl Streep's son in "Prime," brings disarming qualities to the misconceived role.

"It is the fool who fails to return to the place of his last happiness," a woman warns Nick.

Prepon's Hannah is a reason for happiness. She would be so nice to come home to -- if the hero would just pull himself together. She is the main reason to root for "October Road."

http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps...3220460/-1/Ent

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Calling all Donna Pinciotti fans! OK, so it's not exactly the same redhead from That '70s Show, but Laura Prepon is back on the small screen with a lighter 'do and a big role — playing Mom on the new ABC drama October Road, which airs a new episode tonight at 10 pm/ET. While she's no Kitty Forman, her 28-year-old character, Hannah, does balance a job, a relationship and parent-teacher meetings. But her biggest struggle is her high-school sweetheart (played by Bryan Greenberg) rolling back into town after a decade's absence and dragging the past along with him. TVGuide.com talked to the fun, enthusiastic Prepon about her "awesome" character, grand gestures and her Jersey upbringing that brings it all full circle. Plus, a look at her directing debut and her own review of another new show.

TVGuide.com: So I've already watched the first four episodes of October Road, and I like the story.
Laura Prepon: Yeah, the vibe of the show is pretty different... the music, too. There aren't a lot of pop hits in there, it's all Rush and Journey.

TVGuide.com: It's funny you bring that up, because I kept thinking about how much I liked the music as I was watching.
Prepon: Well, it's nostalgic. Whenever I hear any of that music, it brings me back to that comfortable place. The music is definitely a really big part of the show. [Writers] Scott Rosenberg, Josh [Appelbaum] and Andre [Nemec] did that deliberately.

TVGuide.com: What made you sign on for this show?
Prepon: I got the script for October Road a week after I wrapped That '70s Show, and I was like, "Oh, my god, ['70s] was the best job in the world, I just want to focus on my films." Even though all these movie stars are doing TV now, like Hugh Jackman [with the CBS pilot Viva Laughlin] and Minnie Driver [The Riches], I still wanted to focus on my films. My manager, Paul Brown, who I've been with for 11 years, was like, "Look, I know your taste, you're going to love this. It's written like an independent film — you have to read October Road." I knew that Scott wrote Beautiful Girls, which I love, so I read it and loved it.

TVGuide.com: Hannah has such an interesting story and it creates a complicated character. She's hurt by the past, confused in the present, surviving on her own....
Prepon: Isn't she f--kin' cool?! I love her. It's pretty crazy, because here she is, in love with this guy [Greenberg's Nick], they thought they were going to be together forever, and he's going on a six-week trip, but really she knows that he's leaving [for good]. Imagine that happening and then 10 years later, you've moved on. [Hannah] now has a new boyfriend, is dating the guy who we all hated in high school, and has a 10-year-old son.

TVGuide.com: It all creates so many storytelling possibilities.
Prepon: Yeah, and Warren Christie (Battlestar Galactica) who plays my new boyfriend, Big Cat (Ray), is so great at playing that role, because he's endearing and you actually really like Big Cat. The casting on this show was so smart, because that character could have been a typical, by-the-book guy who was a d--k, but Warren gives him so many different levels. Same thing with Tom Berenger. Some guy could come into that commander role and be the gruff dad who doesn't really speak, but Tom brings so many levels to that guy, you totally feel for his character.

TVGuide.com: Even Slade Pearce, who plays your son Sam, is great.
Prepon: He's rad! [Laughs] He's hilarious. It's insane, he's so smart.

TVGuide.com: How is it playing a mom?
Prepon: All my friends always tell me I have a maternal instinct. Even when my sister gave birth to her son, I picked him up and it was so natural to me. It just isn't something that freaks me out. Most of my friends are guys, and my house is like the central stomping ground of our group, so in between auditions and meetings, they come over, I make them food, they hang out, and then they go about their day. So playing a mom wasn't weird to me at all. Even though Slade is 10 years old, what's so cool about Hannah is she doesn't treat him like a kid — her son is her best friend.

TVGuide.com: I noticed that she doesn't talk to him like she's the mom.
Prepon: I think kids know when you're speaking condescendingly toward them. Whenever I'm around kids, I always try to talk to them like I would anybody else, except for maybe cutting back on my swearing, which Slade charges me a dollar for every time. [Laughs]

TVGuide.com: Without revealing too much, there's this grand gesture that goes down at the Pumpkin Fest in an upcoming episode. Have you ever had a guy try to impress you like that?
Prepon: That's a good question. My boyfriend got me a horse one year, but that doesn't really count. That isn't like Say Anything. I need a Lloyd Dobler moment. Guys are always too scared to do anything to me, they're always so intimidated. [Laughs] And the boyfriend I'm with now, I picked him up at a bar, so let me just think about this for a second.... No one's asked me that question yet.

TVGuide.com: The horse story is pretty funny, though.
Prepon: Yeah. He brought me to the stables, showed me the horse and said, "It's yours." It's a really great gesture, but it's not like standing on a street corner with a boombox over your head. Definitely nothing like Slade did to Amanda. [Sings] "Amandaaaa!"

TVGuide.com: Well, I loved that scene. It suited the small-town feel of Knights Ridge, where everybody knows everybody.
Prepon: There are so many towns like that across the United States, and that's the thing I love about the show. You feel like you know this place exists somewhere, like you know these people. Dude, when I go back to Jersey, I'm sorry, but some of my friends still live with their moms, some of them drive tow trucks or snow-plow trucks, most of them work in construction or at a gas station. The characters on this show, I know these people, it's so freaky. No matter where you are or what walk of life [you're from], there's somebody on the show you relate to.

TVGuide.com: That's exactly what I wanted to ask you, because I grew up in Jersey, too....
Prepon: Dude, get out!

TVGuide.com: So I thought you'd also relate to Knights Ridge.
Prepon: Oh, totally, besides the fact that my character is awesome, and the creators and everybody are so great. Here's the thing: It's not a CSI, it's not a doctor show — which, don't get me wrong, you've got to love Grey's Anatomy; we're following them, so I'm glad everyone loves them — and we don't have a crazy hook or explosions or a meteor hitting Earth. It's literally thirtysomething meets Beautiful Girls. Our show is about these people and these relationships, which is what all of us deal with every day. That's why I hope people will like it.

TVGuide.com: I talked to Bryan last week, and he was saying how he was nervous at first because it's not gimmicky like Lost or 24. Do you have that feeling at all?
Prepon: This isn't cliché, I'm actually sincere about this, but I always just try to do work that's going to be with an incredible group of people, a really great product, and a character that speaks to me and really challenges me, and this girl does that. And also, it's someone I want to play every day. Like, I loved playing Donna. It was such a great first thing for me. From here, I'll do movies on my hiatus, but this seemed like the perfect next step. It's like '70s was high school and college, and then you step out in the real world, and now I'm playing a woman who has a kid with all these real human emotions in serious situations.

TVGuide.com: It does seem fitting.
Prepon: It's a natural transition, and I'll continue with my directing, which I'm all about. You're always nervous, like, "Oh, my god, are people going to like it?" Dude, Little Miss Sunshine is such an incredible movie and people didn't even want to make that at first. You just never know. If everybody knew what was going to be a hit, there wouldn't be so many canceled pilots every year. All I know is, we are so proud of [October Road], we stand behind every frame that's on the screen.

TVGuide.com: Do you all have fun on the set? Any poker going on in between scenes, since I know you're a fan?
Prepon: We have so much fun. Most of the guys actually don't play poker! Only myself, Bryan and Warren played a bit. When the show goes [on hiatus], I'm going to teach everybody how to play so we can have a weekly game.

TVGuide.com: Do you miss the '70s cast? Still talk to anyone?
Prepon: Oh, yeah, all the time. I just talked to Wilmer [Valderrama], I saw Topher [Grace] a couple weeks ago, I see Ashton [Kutcher] and Mila [Kunis], I see Danny [Masterson] all the time.... I did The View [last week] and Debra Jo [Rupp] called me right after and said, "I watched you!"

TVGuide.com: What's lined up on the movie front?
Prepon: I want to direct my first feature, Abide with Me, this year. I could go out and get money for the film just based off of, "Hey, I want to direct a movie, I'm blah-blah-blah," but I would never do that. I want to get money for the right reasons and have actors sign on because they believe in my work as a director and they know I know what I'm doing. I've been taking a film class for a couple of years, but I never wanted to step behind a camera until I was fully in control of what I wanted to put on the screen and how I'd want to affect an audience. So I took scenes from the movie and directed a short film. Now I can send it to actors who I want to be in the movie and be like, "Look, watch this, just so you know to give me a shot at this," because they wouldn't deserve anything less. When you're on a set, it's such a close-knit, collaborative thing, if you don't trust your director, the project is done. I want to do everything I can so my actors have faith in me before we step foot on a set.

TVGuide.com: Well, good luck with everything.
Prepon: Thanks for watching all the episodes of October Road, that was really sweet of you.

TVGuide.com: Well, I couldn't really stop since I had them all.
Prepon: I was like that with The Riches. When I was [guest-hosting] The View, we had to interview Minnie Driver, so they sent me three episodes and she is great in it. Talk about a complicated character! It's interesting because Eddie Izzard is serious in it, yet when you think of Eddie Izzard, you think of a stand-up comic. I kept on waiting for him to go into something funny. Like when Ashton and Wilmer started doing movies, everybody was waiting for them to go into their funny bit, and I found myself doing that with Eddie Izzard. If all you do is comedy, you have to break out of that.

TVGuide.com: That's funny, because I just watched The Guardian [starring Kutcher and Kevin Costner] and I was like, "Wow, this is a different side of Ashton."
Prepon: Yeah, you keep waiting for him to trip over a table or something!

http://www.tvguide.com/News-Views/In...A27068C0509%7D

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Despite shaky reviews, ABC's October Road (Thursdays at 10 pm/ET) stepped into a prime-time spot behind Grey's Anatomy and held its own in its first few weeks. But will viewers get attached enough to invite Bryan Greenberg's Nick Garrett and his small-town friends back for more? TVGuide.com spoke to Jonathan Murphy — aka Nick's kid brother, Ronnie — about why he was drawn to the series and how it will survive among peers that are exploding with high ratings. Murphy also gives us the scoop on the coming season of ABC Family's Wildfire.

TVGuide.com: So, a pretty good viewer response to October Road, huh?
Jonathan Murphy: Yes, we've been doing very well.

TVGuide.com: How do you feel about working on a show that's not about blowing things up, saving lives or superpowers?
Murphy: I like it. There were certain kinds of movies that I used to watch that made me want to get into [acting] and they were never those big, huge blockbusters; they were always character dramas driven by simple premises and normal people living normal lives. A kid from Texas can't relate to nine cars exploding on the highway, but people can understand a guy who fights with his brother and doesn't like his dad. So for me, I enjoy the aspect that it's not one of the procedurals or medical dramas or a themed show like Lost. I gravitate toward the family drama and stories of real people.

TVGuide.com: You and Bryan are convincing as brothers; you look related.
Murphy: Good, that was the whole point!

TVGuide.com: Do you still have a group of friends from high school?
Murphy: I have a few friends that I talk to. None of them are really out here, they're pretty scattered. Things like MySpace have been wondrous for talking to people that I haven't seen in years and years, so that's how I communicate with some of those guys.

TVGuide.com: Has October Road filmed any more than the first six episodes?
Murphy: There's always wishful thinking among everyone. It's, "Oh, when we get [picked up for] Season 2," yadda, yadda, yadda. We talk about it and it's hoped that it will actually happen.

TVGuide.com: If you guys come back, I hope we get to see more of Ronnie integrated with Nick and his friends.
Murphy: That, from what I've been told, is the plan. I think they really want to expand it. They're looking at why Grey's Anatomy is successful, how it is the stories of all those people, not just their lead guys. I think that's the direction they want to take it in.

TVGuide.com: How's the cast chemistry?
Murphy: It's great, because everyone gets along so well and that's due in part to [shooting] all the episodes in Atlanta. I hate to use the word "forced," but it forces everyone to be together, because if we were shooting in L.A., you'd go to work and go home, you don't have to hang out with everyone. But we were all in Atlanta, in the same hotel, and we all hung out and had drinks and dinner together and it was a big family, which I think only helps the attitude on the show. Having a cast that gets along in a family aspect carries over on screen, making the relationships go a lot deeper than what's on film. But sitting there talking to Tom Berenger and Penny Johnson [Jerald] and Bryan in a scene... you can't ask for more than that.

TVGuide.com: Hopefully viewers will latch on. In tonight's episode, there are some twists....
Murphy: It gets interesting. There are some relationships that start to blossom and people who have watched the first [few] and think they know what's going to happen, or think it's predictable, could be thrown for a loop after they see the next [episode].

TVGuide.com: Also, you're going to be on Wildfire when it returns this fall....
Murphy: Yes, we're shooting that now. It will air sometime in September. As many of the Wildfire fans know, Junior Davis (Ryan Sypek) has had some business endeavors that haven't worked out for him very well and [next season] he's at his country club and he runs into this valet, Calvin, who he was not the nicest to in high school. Junior comes to apologize and discovers that Calvin has created this wind turbine that will reduce the world's energy use and reduce the dependency on foreign oil and slow down global warming. He sees something in Calvin, a dedication, so he decides to get behind it and back him, and those two go into business together. I play Calvin, the inventor of this machine.

TVGuide.com: But he's a valet?
Murphy: He's been trying to raise all this money to get the materials to build this prototype by working at a dead-end job [even though] he's the smartest guy, going to MIT. He lucks out that Junior wronged him in high school and now has the capability and lots of money to get behind the invention.

TVGuide.com: That's interesting, because the way they ended Season 3 had us thinking that Junior was going to take over the ranch business.
Murphy: Yeah, they have twists and turns in there. Junior might have a new love interest, too, and there's big stuff going on.... I think it's going to be a good season. I am doing six [episodes] with a possibility of seven, so about half of the season. I just got another film, so we're going to have to work around the dates.

TVGuide.com: Tell me about your film Ready or Not.
Murphy: It's about four friends who made a vow to each other years ago that if any of them decide to get married, they'll have to prove to one another that they're really ready for the commitment. Chris, played by Christian Oliver, decides he's ready to get married and the bachelor party is planned and we're parachuted into Mexico. But instead of Cabo, we land in god-knows-where Mexico and have to fight our way back, dealing with drug lords and large strippers and donkeys and everything else that you can imagine in Mexico.

TVGuide.com: A little adventure there.
Murphy: It's a bit of an adventure and there's some comedy thrown in. I play the youngest of all of them, the friend who's the most practical and who believes in love, and that's not always the most popular choice in this group of guys. I don't know the official [release] date, but I've been told late fall of this year.

TVGuide.com: That's exciting! You've got a lot going on.
Murphy: I'm trying, and I just got a new movie called Broken Windows, which is in the vein of Love Actually and 11:14 and Crash. It's about these four women and their stories and they're all interrelated, but they don't know [that they are]. I just met with the director and we're really excited. It's funny, because the girl who plays my sister in the movie, Jennifer Hall, was on Unscripted with Bryan Greenberg.

TVGuide.com: See, it all comes full circle.
Murphy: It's a very small world. And Michael Gross (Family Ties) plays my dad, so I get to add another Hollywood veteran to my list of guys playing my dad. It's funky. I've been very lucky this year, and hopefully it only gets better.

http://www.tvguide.com/News-Views/In...706729399D5%7D

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By Nellie Andreeva
Tue Apr 24, 1:17 AM ET
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Two recurring players on ABC's "October Road" -- Lindy Booth and Rebecca Field -- have been promoted to regulars for next season, an indication that the network has faith in the midseason drama and is looking to bring it back in the fall.
Bryan Greenberg stars as a successful novelist who returns to his hometown. Booth plays Pizza Girl and Field plays Janet the Planet.
The series, which is headed to its season finale Thursday, has had a strong run in the coveted 10 p.m. slot after "Grey's Anatomy."

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070424/tv_nm/october_dc_1

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I'm happy that Rebbecca Field is a regular. I wich Pizzagirl would go away. I really don't care for her character.

[VaMoS44]

Wooo Hooo! I'm so excited. Yeah I really like Rebecca. What has Pizza girl played on before? She looks so familiar, but I just can't figure it out.

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She has been in allot of things. Check it here

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0095751/

Bravo for Becky!