Who Does Gwyneth Paltrow Think She Is?

One of my favorite shows of recent years has been NBC's fascinating Who Do You Think You Are. The show, expertly researched and produced (by Dan Bucatinsky and one of last year's subjects, Lisa Kudrow), has been one of the inspirations for my own delving into genealogy, and my search has already yielded not only fun and surprising results, but also a few fun, interesting new relatives in Europe whom I've already had the pleasure of meeting and visiting (i.e., freeloading.)

The show's resident genealogist, Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak, has visited us on Sirius XM's The Frank DeCaro Show, and I hope she'll come back again to discuss her work on this second batch of celebrities. Last year, we learned that Sarah Jessica Parker has American roots that go back as far as the Salem witch trials and that Brooke Shields is descended from the kings of France. We went with Spike Lee to visit his white distant cousin, and with Emmitt Smith to an ancestral country in Africa.

This year, the list of celebs looks fascinating as well. Rosie O'Donnell was just photographed by paparazzi as she appeared at the public library in Jersey City, NJ, researching her roots for the show; as she later explained on her radio show on Sirius XM, she has been told that her work on the show will involve her leaving the country twice -- and she assumes she'll be going to Ireland -- but that excitingly, she won't know her exact destinations until she leaves for the plane.

Having recently accosted Gwyneth Paltrow's mother, the gracious and lovely Blythe Danner, on my flight to New Orleans, I know that the Danner roots reach back to the earliest times in the United States. And who wouldn't want to tune in to learn more about the gorgeous gumbo of genetic ingredients it must take to produce someone as beautiful and talented as Vanessa Williams?

Here's the NBC press release with the full list of names. Who Do You Think You Are returns to NBC on Friday, February 4.

NBC ANNOUNCES THE CELEBRITIES TRACING THEIR FAMILY TREES ON SEASON TWO OF ‘WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?’ PREMIERING FEBRUARY 4

Gwyneth Paltrow, Tim McGraw, Rosie O’Donnell, Steve Buscemi, Kim Cattrall, Lionel Richie, Vanessa Williams and Ashley Judd Take a Look Inside Their Family Histories on NBC’s Genealogy Alternative Series Produced by Lisa Kudrow

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. – December 16, 2010 – Viewers can take an up-close and personal look inside the family history of some of today’s most beloved and iconic celebrities when NBC’s “Who Do You Think You Are?” returns for its second season on Friday, February 4 (8-9 p.m. ET). The celebrities who star in the series are Gwyneth Paltrow, Tim McGraw, Rosie O’Donnell, Steve Buscemi, Kim Cattrall, Lionel Richie, Vanessa Williams and Ashley Judd.

From executive producers Lisa Kudrow (“Friends,” “The Comeback”) and Dan Bucatinsky (“Lipstick Jungle,” “The Comeback”) – through their production company Is or Isn’t Entertainment and Shed Media U.S. (“Supernanny,” “The Real Housewives of New York City”) -- “Who Do You Think You Are?” is an adaptation of the award-winning hit British television documentary series that leads celebrities on a journey of self-discovery as they unearth their family trees that reveal surprising, inspiring and even tragic stories that often are linked to crucial events in American history.

“I've been a fan of the U.K. version of ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ for a long time, so it's very rewarding that the U.S. version is back with more compelling stories this season that are illuminating, touching and aspirational,” said Kudrow. “This is such a unique show for network television and we're all thrilled that the American audience has embraced it.”

From the trenches of the Civil War to the shores of the Caribbean, and from the valleys of Virginia to the island nations of Australia and Ireland, “Who Do You Think You Are?” will reveal the fabric of humanity through everyone’s place in history. Each week a different celebrity takes a journey into their family’s past, traveling all over the world. While giving viewers an in-depth look into their favorite stars’ family tree, each episode will expose surprising facts and life changing encounters that will unlock people’s emotions, show just how connected everyone is not only to the past, but to one another.

Ancestry.com is NBC and Shed’s official partner on the series and will help provide the research used to tell each story. “We’re thrilled with this year’s strong lineup and look forward to helping Americans go on their own journey of discovery alongside the stars,” said Josh Hanna, Head of Global Marketing for Ancestry.com.

So about those Emmys...

I'm not going to get into how much everyone's saying that, with some notable exceptions like Ricky Gervais and Don Rickles, the telecast sucked. Or how this 60th anniversary show, which should have been more celebratory about TV, notched the Emmys' lowest ratings in history -- even lower than the previous record-holding year, 1990.

What I want to ask is, did anyone else notice a disturbing misogynist note to the whole affair? First the script called for several males to rip the outfit off of their sole female cohost, Heidi Klum. Later in the evening, another bit called for poor Tom Bergeron, a genuine nice guy, to drop her to the floor. And then there was that moment -- again, pre-planned! -- with Craig Ferguson's hand supposedly on Brooke Shields' ass. (Have I missed any more?)

Did we really need to stoop to that? To take Brooke Shields, a smart, accomplished, beautiful woman on a hit show, and turn her into a 6-foot cheesecake model to be groped for a joke? Do we men, now that our economy is a mess and our banks are failing, suddenly need to reassert our "power" and dominance over our women to make ourselves feel better? And do it on national TV, as an example for the next generation?

All I can say is, thank god nobody trivialized or objectified my girl Tina Fey -- at least that I could see on camera. Nobody puts multiple-Emmy winning genius Tina in a corner!

And Now, a Word From...

Oliver Goldstick
Executive Producer, NBC’s Lipstick Jungle

By the time I caught up with Lipstick Jungle executive producer Oliver Goldstick at the Television Critics’ Convention last month, the show already had three episodes for its second season in the can. Having recovered from the chaos wrought by last season’s writers’ strike, Goldstick and company had gotten an early summer jump on producing more Lipstick on location in New York. Now, as the seasoned writer took a break to shmooze some critics at this party in LA, it was refreshing to see how this is a show he’s obviously quite proud of.



Must-Hear TV: MHTV: At the end of last season, Lindsay Price’s character Victory shared a kiss with another woman, but the storyline ended abruptly. Was that intended to anywhere that it didn’t?

Oliver Goldstick: Due to the writers’ strike, that script was shot before the writers really got to work on it. It was a first draft. The story was supposed to be about a couple that hired Victory where they both were interested in her. It wasn’t about Victory coming out in any way, or an intention to say she was going in a different direction in her sexuality. But there is a certain fluidity in her world -- she works in fashion, so nothing should surprise us.

What we had intended for the storyline was that, on the heels of her horrible breakup with Joe Bennett [Andrew McCarthy], where she’s not feeling desired at all, we wanted two people to desire her. So we put her in a situation where she went from being invisible to suddenly being toast of the town. But with the strike, we never got to write the full storyline. We didn’t even get to hear Victory say why this all happened -- what was going on with her vulnerability and why she was open to being with a couple. We weren’t trying to play a joke or be exploitative [by introducing and then wrapping up a lesbian plotline in just one episode]. I wouldn’t do that. I have too many GLAAD awards under my belt for that one.



MHTV: Speaking of exploitative – in a good way – who’s that guy who’s always shirtless on the show?

OG: That's Kirby [Robert Buckley]. I’ve had people ask me, “Will we be seeing any more of Kirby?” And I want to say, “NBC censors won’t allow us to see any more of Kirby.” In fact, all last season, when I got to post-production, I had to do a lot of cutting thanks to Kirby. But yes, you’ll see a lot of Kirby coming up – he’s a regular now. I don’t want to tell you too much, but we’ll be exploring what it means for an older woman to be with a younger man.



MHTV: Do you think the shirtless Kirby buzz on the internet helped Lipstick Jungle’s ratings?

OG: Look, the right pecs can get you a lot of publicity I guess. I’m very fortunate for it. I guess the show’s lucky. Robert works out at the gym a lot, and just likes to take his shirt off. He’s 26 years old – wouldn’t you? He would do every scene in a towel if he could. We don’t have to ask.



MHTV: You mentioned the strike hampering your ability to tweak little details on the show last season. Now that it’s over, how has the writing process changed?

OG: We didn’t get to try to write for these actors last year, because of the strike. But now I’ve been able to stand back and watch these episodes and spend time with them. I can try to write for the individual actors and their strengths now.



MHTV: Since the show is set in New York, can we expect more gay characters to pop up? Having the New York actor pool to cast from, where there are a lot of gay theater actors available…

OG: Well, Victory’s assistant Roy [Matt Lauria] will come out in this season. Not in a big way – he just comes out. And I can’t tell you too much, but Wendy [Brooke Shields] is going to have a new colleague. But gay people are part of New York’s fabric, so why wouldn’t we have them on the show? I’ll be honest with you, one of my agendas coming in to work on the show [replacing the original executive producers] was to make it resemble New York more. Because the New York I lived in for 10 years really wasn’t represented that well earlier. We needed more people who just looked like they lived in that city.



MHTV: So you’re trying to make Lipstick Jungle more multicultural overall?

OG: Yes. We’ve added Rosie Perez [as Victory's new publicist Dahlia], and James Lesure is the new boss. You can’t work in New York City without hearing five languages when you’re standing at Starbucks in the morning. That’s just what New York is. Unlike in L.A., where you can be very insulated, the city doesn’t allow that. In New York, you are in the maelstrom of humanity when you walk out your door. So I think we’re making some changes to reflect that. And Lorraine Bracco, who appeared on the show last season, is coming back too. I remember, when the strike was over and I was able to go into the editing room and watch the show, I noticed that the minute Lorraine opens her mouth, I know where I am. You can get rid of the background, close the blinds – we still know this is New York. It’s the same way I feel with Rosie and with James. This is what I want in the show. We don’t have to feel we have to show 30 Rock to know where we are. We know where we are because Lorraine Bracco is telling somebody off.



MHTV: She’s your own one-woman establishing shot. Speaking of guest stars, how much will we see of guest star Mary Tyler Moore as Wendy’s mom?

OG: Mary’s in two episodes right now so far. We don’t commit to anything. The show was based on a novel, so we’ve been busy in the writers’ room collapsing [and condensing the source material.] And now [in season two] we have the prerogative to pick and choose what we want. That has dictated how we’re doing things this year. Some things are going to be from the book, and some things are not. We’ll still pay some allegiance to the book, but we’ll also say, “You know what, this is a series now and we need 100 episodes. I have to make some changes and make some different choices.”


Lipstick Jungle
Season 2 Premiere
Wednesday, September 24
10 PM Eastern
NBC

Lipstick Jungle - Season One

Release Date: May 27, 2008