You are viewing the archive: “Steve McPherson Resignation”

TCA: Steve Levitan On McPherson’s Ouster, Nathan Lane Joining ‘Modern Family’, & Chances He’ll Do A Show At Fox Again

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Sunday August 1, 2010 @ 6:16pm PDTTags: ABC Entertainment Group, Modern Family, Nathan Lane, Steve Levitan, Steve McPherson, Steve McPherson ABC, Steve McPherson Resignation, TCA
Nellie Andreeva

Family Man: Showrunner Series Q&A Steve Levitan

During a coffee break at TCA today, Modern Family co-creator/executive producer Steve Levitan dived straight in about Steve McPherson’s sudden exit from ABC Entertainment. “My genuine reaction was this sucks. I’m sorry to hear it,” Levitan said to reporters, noting that he’s a long-time friend going back to when McPherson was a network exec on his NBC comedy Just Shoot Me. “We took Modern Family to ABC in large part because of Steve and that relationship. And because he promised us that he would launch us and support us, which he did. He’s always been a straight shooter. You knew where you stood with Steve, and I respect that. While I hear wonderful things about [McPherson replacement] Paul Lee, certainly I’m very sorry to see Steve go.”

Levitan shared the casting news that Nathan Lane has been tapped to guest star in the fall. He’ll play Cameron’s and Mitchell’s mentioned-but-never-seen flamboyant friend Pepper. Personally, I’m pretty psyched to see Lane go toe-to-toe with Eric Stonestreet’s Cameron; I always felt Cameron was modeled after Lane’s character in The Birdcage.

Levitan said he doesn’t have any immediate plans to do a show at Fox where he and Modern Family co-creator Christopher Lloyd’s previous series, Back to You, was canceled after one season. But “I’m open to the idea if they create an atmosphere that is conducive to my style of comedy,” he said.

He also wants to take Modern Family episodes off the Internet because he argues it’ll boost TV ratings. And he is in talks for a new overall deal with Modern Family producer 20th Century Fox TV

As for all the talk that Modern Family may win the best series Emmy (Lee anointed the show an Emmy winner this morning), Levitan said, ”It would be an amazing validation and a dream come true.”

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TCA: New ABC Chief Paul Lee Makes Debut

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Sunday August 1, 2010 @ 11:51am PDTTags: ABC Family, Paul Lee, Paul Lee ABC Entertainment, Steve McPherson, Steve McPherson ABC, Steve McPherson Resignation, TCA
Nellie Andreeva

For a guy who confessed that as a Brit he is way too self-conscious to dance, new ABC Family Entertainment Group president Paul Lee did a pretty good job tap dancing around the controversial issues surrounding the departure of his … Read More »

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TCA: ABC Addresses Elephant In The Room

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Sunday August 1, 2010 @ 9:43am PDTTags: ABC, ABC Paul Lee, Steve McPherson, Steve McPherson ABC, Steve McPherson Resignation, TCA
Nellie Andreeva

Today is ABC’s day at TCA. Of course, the abrupt resignation of Entertainment Group president Stephen McPherson on Tuesday was expected to be the predominant theme of the day. So ABC decided to tackle it head-on with an intro … Read More »

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Steve McPherson’s Lawyer Marty Singer Faxes Letter To The Hollywood Reporter Demanding “Apology And Retraction”

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Friday July 30, 2010 @ 6:33am PDTTags: Janice Min, Marty Singer, Steve McPherson, Steve McPherson ABC, Steve McPherson Lawyer, Steve McPherson Marty Singer, Steve McPherson Resignation, Steve McPherson Rumors, The Hollywood Reporter

EXCLUSIVE: Last night, at 9:13 PM, outgoing ABC Entertainment Group President Steve McPherson’s pit bull litigator Marty Singer faxed the following letter to The Hollywood Reporter. It accuses THR of becoming an “outrageous scandal sheet” now that former US magazine editor Janice Min and new publisher Lori Burgess are in charge. “It appears that … Read More »

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Steve McPherson Hires Pit Bull Marty Singer

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Thursday July 29, 2010 @ 5:08pm PDTTags: Journalism, Marty Singer, Steve McPherson, Steve McPherson ABC, Steve McPherson Lawyer, Steve McPherson Marty Singer, Steve McPherson Resignation, Steve McPherson Rumors, The Hollywood Reporter, Trades

I hear that Steve McPherson, who resigned as ABC Entertainment Group president this week, has asked pit bull litigator Marty Singer to specifically target The Hollywood Reporter. If you haven’t noticed, the front page of THR is increasingly resembling TMZ as a Hollywood scandal sheet now that former US magazine … Read More »

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Steve McPherson’s Lawyer Goes On Record About “Rumors Of Internal Situations Easily Misinterpreted Or Misrepresented” At ABC

By NIKKI FINKE AND NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday July 28, 2010 @ 5:57pm PDTTags: ABC Entertainment Group, Steve Carell, Steve McPherson, Steve McPherson ABC, Steve McPherson Resignation, Steve McPherson Rumors

Ever since Deadline broke the news that Steve McPherson was resigning as ABC Entertainment Group President yesterday, emails have been sent to media outlets filled with rumors about his personal and/or professional behavior. Disney wouldn’t respond to Deadline’s requests … Read More »

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