TV Guide Talks to Blair Underwood about The Big Event and Teases What's Coming Up

[JamesG]

Blair Underwood on "The Event's" Guest Stars, Hiatus, and — Finally! — the Big Event
Dec 15, 2010
by Carita Rizzo


On the morning that the Golden Globe nominations are announced, at 5:38 am PT, most people await the good news in their pajamas. But "The Event's" Blair Underwood woke up long before dawn to bring an early Christmas present to this year's nominees.

Before he headed back to bed, TV Guide Magazine caught up with the fictional president about what's coming up when his show returns next spring.






How is work on "The Event"?

Work is good! We're off the air for three months, which I'm not crazy about [the show returns to NBC February 28].

I don't quite understand it, but what I do know is that we have 12 more episodes to air, and I know they want to end with a big bang in May. That's when everybody makes the decisions for the new season so we'll have back-to-back [episodes] to gain momentum.











How do you feel about the first half of the season?

Creatively, I feel very good about it.
Creatively, I love it.


It's just where we were positioned in terms of programming. We were up against the crossfire of "Monday Night Football", "Dancing With the Stars" and "Two and a Half Men", so it was a very difficult place to be.

But that said, I think that we have a very solid audience, and the network is strongly behind the show.











Give us a good tease, because people have to stay excited for a really long time.

One of the things we've talked about before is answering questions. So in the next couple of episodes we talk specifically about the event, and what's coming, and that it is coming.

The real event.



And also we have two new characters. Virginia Madsen joins. She plays a mother from Alaska, who becomes a Senator. So she's a political force from Alaska. Attractive woman. Housewife. From Alaska. (Raises eyebrow.)

And the other is our new Chief of Staff, played by Roger Bart from "Desperate Housewives". He's terrific!











There were some spectacular scenes this season with the kids who look like old people.

I call them the Raisinets.






Hah. When do we see more of that, and will we learn why Hal Holbrook's Dempsey shifts in age?

That's all coming up. When we come back we'll start answering a lot of those questions.

And especially in the subsequent episodes, we find out exactly what's going on, how Dempsey fits into the whole thing and the aging thing with the kids.











Were you surprised by any of the Golden Globe nominations?
Anyone you were rooting for?

I really liked The Social Network, so those nominations didn't surprise me. Just look at the pedigree of [writer] Aaron Sorkin. It was a great film. What I loved about it is that the opening scene is just two people talking. Great banter and classic Aaron Sorkin. I just loved it.

And I like "Dexter". I love the whole psychological madness and the Robin Hood-esque feel of it. They got a lot of love today.

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