TCA Notes

Cable continues its ride through the press tour, with an emphasis on going green:

Discovery Networks (Discovery, Animal Planet, TLC.)

-Discovery: The Discovery Channel had a panel at the tour discussing a film titled Secrets of the Dinosaur Mummy, which chronicles the find of Leonardo, a extinct dinosaur found in Montana - which still stands with 90 percent of its skin still intact! The flick premieres Sept. 14.

Also, Discovery is launching Into the Unknown with Josh Bernstein, which takes the host through training from a Roman Gladiator to exploring whether or not a flood happened in the Bible.

-Planet Green: The new environmental-themed cable network has Greenburg on tap, a series produced by Leonardo DiCapio entering its second season. Also, former ABC journalist Bob Woodruff is anchoring a weekly news show titled Focus Earth, which focuses on the week that was in the environment. While at ABC News, Woodruff was nearly killed in Iraq in 2006 when a device exploded right near him.

Planet Green is also pitting hip-hop star Ludacris (aka Chris Bridges) against Motley Crue rocker Tommy Lee in an environmental battle titled Battle Ground Earth: Ludacris v. Tommy Lee. In the show, both men travel city to city in a bio-diesel bus to encourage people to do what they can do to conserve energy.

-Animal Planet: The network talked about a new show titled Whale Wars, which follows a whale-protecting ship named Sea Shepard. Think of it as Shipmates only in addition to couple-bating nonsense, Whale Wars at least has a purpose and mission. Save the whales! (seriously.)

-TLC: The Learning Channel's presentation consisted of programs regarding housing issues, such as "Flip That House", which it actually more interesting given the housing market crisis going on, and a new series titled Hope For Your Home.

ESPN

The Worldwide Leader in B.S. had Spike Lee on its panel discussing projects he's doing for the network, including Game Day With Kobe, which has 30 cameras on Kobe Bryant of the L.A. Lakers. (Guess his own New York Knicks isn't really interesting to cover...)

I'm surprised they didn't have a panel for The Brett Farve Show, which has practically taken over ESPN for the last day or so, or Titletown, a ridiculous search on what town in America deserves the moniker...

Sundance

The Sundance Channel had a panel touting Architecture School, which features an architecture class at Tulane University learning how to build an affordable home for a owner in New Orleans while keeping heating and cooling costs down at the same time. Elvis Costello is tapped to host a new music-themed talk show on Sundance featuring guests such as Elton John and Tony Bennett.

HBO

HBO execs and stars talked about a wide variety of subjects, ranging from Big Love (coming back in the fall) to Curb Your Enthusiasm (coming back by the end of the year), to Deadwood (not coming back at all and forget the movie.)

One movie that may see the light of day is a sequel to the Sex and the City movie.

A panel for the new mini-series Generation Kill appeared, and answered questions about the show, which premieres Sunday. The series is about the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Other topics included the movie Thank You: Helen Thomas, a new horror series titled True Blood, and the multi-camera comedy series Little Britain USA (remember the last time HBO tried something like that? Louie wasn't exactly lucky.)