RIP Mrs. Wolowitz

Carol Ann Susi, 1952-2014

I was so sad this afternoon to hear about the death at age 62 
of Carol Ann Susi, the actress who voiced the unseen character of Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg)'s harridan mom on The Big Bang Theory.  I've long been a fan of Carol Ann's, and was thrilled a few years back when I got the chance to interview her for a CBS Watch! magazine story about the secretaries of Murphy Brown.

With a long resume in both TV and film, Carol Ann was one of those character actresses with such perfect comic timing, you knew the moment you spotted her in something you'd be in for a laugh.  She was Michael J. Fox's secretary Jean in The Secret to My Succe$s, and a psychiatric patient in Death Becomes Her.  She made her TV debut with three episodes of Kolchak:  The Night Stalker in 1974, and never stopped working since, popping up in all my favorite comedies of the last few decades.  I still laugh out loud when I think back to her hilarious appearance as Maya's (Laura San Giacomo) crazy neighbor Mrs. Boukidis on a 1998 episode of Just Shoot Me.

I had the pleasure of running into Carol Ann quite a few times since my move to LA last fall, including just a few months ago, immediately following a live taping of Big Bang on the Warner Brothers lot.  Her death comes as a shock to all of us who loved her work, including her millions of Big Bang devotees around the world.

Watch for Watch!, the September/October issue

Any day now, you subscribers to CBS Watch! should be getting your September/October issue -- with a new twist. This issue features 7 different collectible covers, featuring each of the five stars of the red-hot Big Bang Theory and two with group shots from our day at New York's glam Hotel Pierre.

Me, I just got a whole box of copies today, featuring Mr. Howard Wolowitz himself, Simon Helberg. Inside, check out the interview with Helberg, Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki, Kaley Cuoco and Kunal Nayyar, and the gorgeous photos expertly styled by our own Angelique O'Neil and shot by the amazing Mark Mann.

Also, more from yours truly: a tribute to the legendary Bea Arthur, Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan talks about his cross-country bike race to raise money for MS research, and a preview of each of CBS' four new fall series: Accidentally On Purpose, The Good Wife, Three Rivers and NCIS: Los Angeles. On the last page, there's also a job "application" which purports to tell you how to break into the business as a wardrobe supervisor.

If you're not already subscribed to CBS Watch!, the issue should also be arriving on newsstands right about... now! And for the future, to subscribe -- for free! -- just visit our web site, www.cbswatchmagazine.com.

It's the best entertainment that meets the eye. (That's the slogan I pitched, anyway. They didn't go for it. :)

Dressing Up the Big Bang

As Michael Ausiello reported yesterday in his blog at EW.com, last week, we at CBS' Watch magazine staged an incredible photo shoot starring the cast of the red-hot sitcom The Big Bang Theory at New York's Pierre hotel.

Check out this sneak peek at some decidedly non-geek chic. Catch the accompanying story (once I write it!) in the September issue of Watch, available as a free subscription here.