Isaiah Washington

One story that got the room buzzing this morning at the TCA press tour was the news that Isaiah Washington will be joining the cast of "Bionic Woman," appearing in five of the show's early episodes.

NBC entertainment co-chairman Ben Silverman said NBC had been talking to Washington even before he was ousted from "Grey's Anatomy." Despite the controversy that has surrounded him, Silverman said he wasn't worried about alienating part of "Bionic Woman"'s potential audience. "The bottom line is he's a wonderful actor," Silverman said. "We think, inside 'Bionic Woman,' the character that's been created for him is very strong and one that he'll do a great job at." According to USA Today, Washington will "play an outsider with a mysterious agenda" who will either help the main character or try to undermine her.

Whatever the circumstances surrounding Washington's firing by ABC, I'm glad that he's moving on — and maybe now we can all focus on his acting again. What do you think? Will you be able to watch him without thinking about the "Grey's" mess?

Source

Last night, Isaiah Washington stopped by Larry King to discuss how an on-set incident last October snowballed into his firing from Grey's Anatomy last month. To be honest, considering how much Isaiah has been running his mouth about this mess, I had zero desire to watch this interview....but I did anyway. What struck me most about the interview (transcript here) was a) the chain of events he told was not the one we've been hearing all along and b) he talked about being gagged by Touchstone, which seems odd since as far as I can tell he's been talking about it a lot.

Isaiah asserted that he never directed the infamous F-word at T.R. Knight and it was instead used in reference to how Patrick Dempsey was treating Washington on set: "To him about how I was feeling. I said there's no way you're going to treat me like a "B" word or a "P" word or the "F" word. You can't treat me this way in front of our crew."

To hear more about the interview just read more

• Want to see what those Kwik-E-Mart 7-11s look like? YumSugar's got the pictures of The Simpsons Movie stunt.
• The Movie Blog has the scoop on Ethan Hawke's movie Daybreakers in which he plays a vampire researcher (a vampire by nature and a researcher by trade, apparently), and which he describes as "low art."
• I'm echoing BestWeekEver's sentiments on Maria Menounous' short film.
• I Guess I'm Floating finds the new Art Brut video too weird to post.
• The TV Addict really doesn't want Nathan Fillion to join "Desperate Housewives."
• Popwatch is pleading with readers to define the word "geek" as it is understood in this day and age.
• Cool! Biodegradable guitar picks will make an appearance at Live Earth, says Idolator.
• Give Me My Remote has the scoop on Kylie Minogue's upcoming guest appearance on "Doctor Who"
• The Film Experience asks you to complete this sentence: Daniel Craig is to 2007 as ______ is to ______.
• Stereogum gets a sneak peek at five new REM tunes from a Dublin show.
• After watching Isaiah Washington on "Larry King Live," Tube Talk wonders if ABC might owe the actor an apology.

Source

• If you have Boomerang, Cartoon Network's retro channel, and you like "The Flintstones," this story will sure make you happy: Boomerang is showing all 166 episodes of the prehistoric cartoon, in order and commercial-free, starting July 4.
• In classic rock news, NME reports that Led Zeppelin may reunite, and tragedy strikes a Rolling Stones show in Madrid.
• According to Variety, Jim Carrey has been cast in the comedy Sober Buddy, about a guy who's hired to keep others on the straight-and-narrow falling off the wagon himself.
• Yes, Isaiah Washington does have more to say, this time to Newsweek.
• Lauryn Hill's comeback show in Oakland is fairly disastrous, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
• Billboard has more details on the Sonic Youth CD release at Starbucks.
• Time, meanwhile, has a very long but very sweet story about Roger Ebert.
• Pretty much every role from CBS' "Moonlight" has been recast, with Shannyn Sossamon taking the role originally intended for Amber Valletta, Zap2it reports.
• Rolling Stone reports that DJ Mark Ronson will remix Bob Dylan's "Most Likely You’ll Go Your Way (And I’ll Go Mine)."
• The Futon Critic has the details on Bravo's two new "docu-drama" series: "Flipping Out," about real estate speculators in Los Angeles, and "Welcome to the Parker," about a luxurious Palm Springs resort.

Source

Despite his obnoxious insistence on telling (and telling, and telling) his side of the "Grey's Anatomy" on-set scuffle - slash - f-word debacle, Isaiah Washington is still in demand. According to the Hollywood Reporter, NBC is in talks with Washington to bring him to the network.

It's not known whether Washington would join an existing series or star in a new one, but if NBC needs help envisioning where to place the embattled actor, I have a few suggestions:

• "Heroes" — Washington comes aboard as Micah's long-lost uncle, who has the power of stretchiness to more easily throttle enemies from across the room.
• "Scrubs" — In one of JD's dream sequences, Washington plays a surgeon who mistakes Turk's friendliness for flirtiness and asks him on a date.




• "ER" — Washington plays a late-in-life medical intern who comes to County General to restart his internship after failing miserably in his first program in Seattle.
• "Friday Night Lights" — Washington plays a high school football scout who gets sued after leaking to the press that one of the Dillon Panthers' top prospects could be gay.
• "Law & Order" — In a special "ripped from the headlines" episode, Washington uses a gay slur against a coworker, graduates from anger management, does a public service announcement to prove that he's reformed, gets fired from his job anyway, then sues his former company for millions.

Source

• Isaiah Washington is now saying that it was T.R. Knight who deserved to be fired and not him. I think it's time for Isaiah to stop talking. - People
• Beyonce's father has fired her long-time bodyguard in hopes of finding a younger, buffer replacement. Sounds like someone is about to score the job of a lifetime. - Gatecrasher
• Rosie O'Donnell met with the producers of The Price Is Right but says she doesn't know if it will work out. Those are some tough shoes to fill. - Us Weekly
• Paris Hilton said that prison has made her a much more grateful person in a phone interview with Ryan Seacrest. It will be interesting to see how much the celebutante has actually changed once she's out of jail. - AP
• Now that Prince William has turned 25, he'll start to receive an annual portion of his inheritance money. Hopefully he knows not to spend it all in one place. - TMZ

• Stereogum has me confused: Does the new Smashing Pumpkins single really have Paris Hilton on the cover?
• Isaiah Washington says this whole "Grey's Anatomy" mess was T.R. Knight's fault, yet Defamer can't really picture Knight acting vengeful.
• Idolator tells us where to hear all of Kelly Clarkson's controversial new album online.
• Can't get enough Steve Carell? The TV Addict has a clip of Carell talking about Evan Almighty.
• The cast of "Heroes" is preparing for a world tour, and TV Squad has the details.
• Just in case you haven't seen enough Transformers ads, The Movie Blog has the latest TV spot for the movie.
• If you're missing "The Office," Give Me My Remote has some fun "Office"-themed games.
• Popwatch warns that Justin Timberlake's video for "LoveStoned" will hurt your eyes.
• Buddy TV fills us in on the long-awaited DVD set for the second season of "Weeds."
• Rolling Stone offers an entertaining list of rock lawsuits they'd like to see.
• Merry Swankster rounds up some awesome songs brought to you by the number 20.

Aside from his bizarre Network-inspired statement, Isaiah Washington initially kept quiet following his firing from "Grey's Anatomy," letting his riled-up spokesman do the talking instead. But the former Dr. Burke finally broke his silence by speaking to Entertainment Weekly about his firing and his future plans. Here are a few highlights:

On whether his firing was fair:
"I'm saddened by the outcome. I did everything that the producers and the network asked me to do. I came back under great duress and stress, and thought I was doing the job I was hired to do."

On what he'll miss about "Grey's":
"I'll miss working with the team. I think the past season we got our rite of passage and we pretty much all learned what we can and we can't do...like any other new show or fledgling child trying to find its legs. Season 4 is going to be stronger, better and wiser and smarter, and I had hoped to be a contributor to that."

More Isaiah quotes, so read more

• Shar Jackson is already denying this morning's rumors that she's pregnant with K-Fed's baby. Looks like Kevin can breathe easy. - Us Weekly
• Kelly Clarkson has decided to leave her manager, Jeff Kwatinetz. After all her recent interviews I am wondering if this girl wants to go at it alone. - People
• The Hard Rock Hotel Casino will reportedly pay Paris Hilton $800,000 to host her own "Get Out Of Jail" party. Nothing like some cash to help you forget about prison time. - Us Weekly
• TV's Mr. Wizard, Don Herbert, died at the age of 89. Our thoughts go out to his family. - AP
• Isaiah Washington spoke out for the first time since being fired from Grey's, saying that he's saddened by what happened and thought he was doing the job he was hired to do. We'll miss Dr Burke from the show but it will be nice to have less off set drama next season. - EW

Source