Full Article Text
One hot, sizzlin
WB hit a smart move for 'Full House' star
By MICHAEL GILTZ Ghlo1
THE summer has its first hit.
The new drama "Summer
land," which began last week,
was the highest-rated debut in two
years for the WB.
And the only reason the show ex
ists is because star Lori Loughlin,
the star of the early '90s hit "Full
House," didn't want to look dumb.
The story goes like this:
When the WB called to set up a
meeting, Lori knew one of the first
questions would be whether she
had any ideas for a series.
"I didn't want to say no; I did it
out of not wanting to look dumb,"
laughs Loughlin, who suddenly
looks very smart.
She plays Ava Gregory, a fashion
designer who quits her job and sud
denly finds herself saddled with
three kids after her sister and
brother-in-law die in an accident.
"I was in Hawaii on a family
vacation when my agent called
me about the meeting," says
the 39-year-old actress, who is
married to fashion designer
Mossimo Giannulli. "I hung up
the phone and walked out on
the beach. I might have had a
cocktail; I can't remember. I
thought, 'What can I do?'
"I didn't want to be the mom ...
And then I thought of this
woman who -boom! -one day
her life changes on a dime. I
wrote it out in longhand and
my son, who is 12 [her hus
band's child from a previous
marriage], typed it up on the
computer.
"He got to name the three
kids. I said, 'Give me a cool
name for a boy.' And he
said, 'I think Bradin's a cool
name.' So that's pretty cool;
he got to name all the kids
on this show."
No one was more sur
prised than Loughlin when
the executives said they
loved it and asked her to
meet with Aaron Spelling.
That led to Stephen Tol
kin, a Spelling protege who writes and is an executive producer on the
show. He made his own contribution to the
name game.
"I met with Lori at the Polo Lounge and
said, 'You know, Ava Gardner probably sat
at this table,' " says Tolkin. "And we said,
'Ava!' And that's how we named her char
acter."
With teenagers in lust and an oceanfront
setting, comparisons to "The O.C.," Fox's
summer hit from last season, are inevita
ble.
" 'The O.C.' is my favorite show," says
Tolkin. "I'm addicted to it. But this show, I
wrote the entire pilot before I ever saw it."
Besides, "The O.c." is a classic soap, says
Tolkin. "Summerland" is more a family
drama. And with a lot more surfing.
In the show, 16-year-old Bradin (played
by 16-year-old Jesse McCartney) takes
up surfing and develops an immediate
crush on his instructor, Erica (Tay
lor Cole).
"Basically, on 'The O.C.,' Peter
Gallagher walks in with wet
hair and a surtboard,"laughs
Tolkin, brother of screen
writer Michael Tolkin
("The Player") and son of
a head writer on "Your
Show of Shows."
"We're really going to
use the beach."
One review put
the series down as
"Full Beach
House."
But the only re
views that matter
-the ratings -
have been terrific.
In New York and
Atlanta, in fact, "Sum
merland" beat every
other network. ~
Loughlin got waves of
congratulatory phone calls,
and Tolkin said his mother-in
law even heard people talking about
it at the opera.
Apparently, the WB knew what it was
doing by launching their best shot at a
breakout hit in the first weeks of sum
mer.
"This show was meant to be shown in
the summer," says Tolkin. "It screams
summer.
It's called 'Summerland' after all."
WB hit a smart move for 'Full House' star
By MICHAEL GILTZ Ghlo1
THE summer has its first hit.
The new drama "Summer
land," which began last week,
was the highest-rated debut in two
years for the WB.
And the only reason the show ex
ists is because star Lori Loughlin,
the star of the early '90s hit "Full
House," didn't want to look dumb.
The story goes like this:
When the WB called to set up a
meeting, Lori knew one of the first
questions would be whether she
had any ideas for a series.
"I didn't want to say no; I did it
out of not wanting to look dumb,"
laughs Loughlin, who suddenly
looks very smart.
She plays Ava Gregory, a fashion
designer who quits her job and sud
denly finds herself saddled with
three kids after her sister and
brother-in-law die in an accident.
"I was in Hawaii on a family
vacation when my agent called
me about the meeting," says
the 39-year-old actress, who is
married to fashion designer
Mossimo Giannulli. "I hung up
the phone and walked out on
the beach. I might have had a
cocktail; I can't remember. I
thought, 'What can I do?'
"I didn't want to be the mom ...
And then I thought of this
woman who -boom! -one day
her life changes on a dime. I
wrote it out in longhand and
my son, who is 12 [her hus
band's child from a previous
marriage], typed it up on the
computer.
"He got to name the three
kids. I said, 'Give me a cool
name for a boy.' And he
said, 'I think Bradin's a cool
name.' So that's pretty cool;
he got to name all the kids
on this show."
No one was more sur
prised than Loughlin when
the executives said they
loved it and asked her to
meet with Aaron Spelling.
That led to Stephen Tol
kin, a Spelling protege who writes and is an executive producer on the
show. He made his own contribution to the
name game.
"I met with Lori at the Polo Lounge and
said, 'You know, Ava Gardner probably sat
at this table,' " says Tolkin. "And we said,
'Ava!' And that's how we named her char
acter."
With teenagers in lust and an oceanfront
setting, comparisons to "The O.C.," Fox's
summer hit from last season, are inevita
ble.
" 'The O.C.' is my favorite show," says
Tolkin. "I'm addicted to it. But this show, I
wrote the entire pilot before I ever saw it."
Besides, "The O.c." is a classic soap, says
Tolkin. "Summerland" is more a family
drama. And with a lot more surfing.
In the show, 16-year-old Bradin (played
by 16-year-old Jesse McCartney) takes
up surfing and develops an immediate
crush on his instructor, Erica (Tay
lor Cole).
"Basically, on 'The O.C.,' Peter
Gallagher walks in with wet
hair and a surtboard,"laughs
Tolkin, brother of screen
writer Michael Tolkin
("The Player") and son of
a head writer on "Your
Show of Shows."
"We're really going to
use the beach."
One review put
the series down as
"Full Beach
House."
But the only re
views that matter
-the ratings -
have been terrific.
In New York and
Atlanta, in fact, "Sum
merland" beat every
other network. ~
Loughlin got waves of
congratulatory phone calls,
and Tolkin said his mother-in
law even heard people talking about
it at the opera.
Apparently, the WB knew what it was
doing by launching their best shot at a
breakout hit in the first weeks of sum
mer.
"This show was meant to be shown in
the summer," says Tolkin. "It screams
summer.
It's called 'Summerland' after all."