‘Drop Dead Diva’s’ April Bowlby: Stacy’s ‘choosing the good guy this time’

If you’re not watching Lifetime’s Drop Dead Diva (Sundays at 9 p.m.), then you’re missing out on not only a terrific show, but also one of the best comedic performances currently on TV. As Stacy, Jane’s (Brooke Elliott) slightly dim, but goodhearted struggling model friend, April Bowlby brings the laughs and unexpected smarts. Recently, Bowlby and I chatted about Stacy’s untapped potential, what’s going to happen now that she knows about Fred’s feelings for her, working on How I Met Your Mother and more!

Your voice has a different pitch on the show. Is that something you did for the role during the audition process?

Yeah. I like my goofy, shallow girls to have a higher pitch because I just think it flows better. So yes, I change the pitch of my voice to get it done. It’s not even a conscious thing. It just happens. I think it probably did happen when I was just working on the character and then that’s just what came out.

Stacy is a little naïve, but she’s sweet and smart in an unconventional way. How would you describe her, and what qualities drew you to her?

I like the character Stacy because she’s all those things that you just said. She flies under the radar. Nobody really suspects that – She comes out with really clever, amazing things. She ties things together that people wouldn’t normally tie. But then she’s got the quirky, fun side. She’s just a fun, little character. She flies under the radar. You don’t expect her to be a whippersnapper, but she is. I think that’s one of things that I like about her and that the writing allows me to play it like that. I’m so lucky that they give me opportunity to solve cases and to do that because I think it adds many layers to the character.

Ben Feldman on Playing Guardian Angel to ‘Drop Dead Diva’

Ben Feldman’s guardian angel character on Lifetime’s Drop Dead Diva may be spending more time on Earth than upstairs, but he’s far from grounded. Since joining the humanly ranks, Fred (Feldman) has only soared. He fell in love. He got a job. And during this Sunday’s episode, he’ll learn how to do something very important to LA residents.

“I feel like Fred could go thirty seasons on this show and still be learning and picking up new and exciting things,” Feldman told me last week.

The possibilities are, indeed, endless. Feldman chatted with Staying In about what Fred will be discovering this season, his love for Stacy, having to sing The Four Tops’ “Baby I Need Your Loving” (the word “horrifying” came up repeatedly) and much more.

In season one, you kept disappearing and coming back. Are you relieved to finally be a series regular?

Yes, yes. It got a little tiresome, I’m sure, for anybody watching it who cared if I was there or not. It was a little much, but it was all for silly, businessy non-show related reasons. It’s kind of nice to have a home and stay there for a little while.

Josh [Berman, the creator] said at a Paley panel for the show last year that you were in very high demand and that everyone wanted to work with you.

[Laughs] Josh is really sweet and good at making us all look good.

Is it difficult playing someone who doesn’t have a backstory in the traditional sense? He doesn’t have a family or memories like human beings.

It’s cool that you asked that. Nobody ever asks me that. Fred doesn’t even have a last name or a driver’s license yet. It’s definitely weird. It’s a little difficult, but at the same time, it’s kind of like when you’ve got nothing and you’re sort of starting from the bottom. There’s nowhere to go but up and no real way to mess it up. So it’s kind of a combination of difficult and super-easy, I think, for an actor to play. It’s a lot of fun.

The ‘Glee’ Effect: ‘Drop Dead Diva’ Gets Musical

This is belated, but I have to give props to Drop Dead Diva for the musical number featured in the season two premiere this past Sunday. I’m a big fan of Diva. The premise — a skinny model gets stuck in the body of a plus-size lawyer — screams potential disaster, but the series is actually a funny, smart and insightful look at beauty, brains and confidence. The series has a refreshingly different point of view thanks to creator Josh Berman, which is driven home by its talented star, Brooke Elliott. Not only does she deliver a skillful performance, walking the tightrope between two characters, she can also belt out a tune.

In the season premiere, the Broadway vet was joined by returning guest star Paula Abdul and the entire cast of Drop Dead Diva for a performance of the Eurythmics’ “Would I Lie to You.” Unlike Glee, the song and dance number turned out to be a dream, but it was still impressive. And props to Kate Levering for that amazing high kick.

Also, a cheer for Ben Feldman (fan favorite Fred) finally becoming a regular cast member!

ETA: Thanks to Twitter follower @wonderboylb for pointing out that the show has a soundtrack, which you can currently purchase on Amazon. It features Elliott and Margaret Cho singing the above tune, Cho doing “Restraining Order,” and Feldman’s “Baby, I Need Your Loving.” I couldn’t help noticing that the CD cover resembled something else…

‘How I Met Your Mother’: Ghost of a One Night Stand

If you follow me on Twitter, you may have noticed that I’ve started recapping How I Met Your Mother for the Los Angeles Times Show Tracker blog. In addition to recapping episodes, I’ll also be posting HIMYM news and interviews.

Last night’s episode was a rerun of “The Stinsons,” so no new recap, but you can catch up on my past posts by checking out Show Tracker’s complete HIMYM coverage. In the future, I’ll post an excerpt here with a link to each recap.

HIMYM returns with new episodes in November. The Nov. 9 episode, “The Rough Patch,” features the return of two familiar characters. Not only does Alan Thicke reprise his role as himself, but Drop Dead Diva‘s April Bowlby also returns as Meg. You can read more about what she’s doing in the episode at my Show Tracker post: ‘Drop Dead Diva’s’ Bowlby back on ‘How I Met Your Mother’

I fell in love with Bowlby’s hilarious portrayal of Jane’s ditzy friend/roommate on Lifetime’s Diva and look forward to her HIMYM return.

A Night at the Paley Center With Lifetime’s ‘Diva’

(clockwise, top to bottom) Jackson Hurst, April Bowlby, Ben Feldman, Josh Stamberg, executive producer Alex Taub, Margaret Cho, Brooke Elliott and creator Josh Berman.

On Wednesday night, the cast and creative team of Lifetime’s new hit Drop Dead Diva gathered at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills for a panel and screening of Sunday’s season finale, “Grayson’s Anatomy.”

It’s impossible to say too much about the finale without spoiling it. It was one of the series’ most touching and funny hours, with major developments in Jane’s personal and professional lives. The hour ends with a whopper of a cliffhanger that I never saw coming. Unfortunately, viewers will have to wait until June 2010 for the 13-episode second season.

After watching April Bowlby, who speaks in a completely different voice pitch in real life, bring the audience into uproarious laughter with her spot-on line deliveries in the episode, I have decided that Stacy is my new favorite character.

On top of the extremely talented regular cast, the episode features guest stars Bryce Johnson (Popular), Devon Gummersall (My So-Called Life) and David Denman (The Office) as Jane’s suitor Tony. Paula Abdul also returns in the show’s most playful dream sequence to date. Abdul flew down to Peachtree City, Ga., to film her second guest spot one day after the news of her departure from American Idol.

Abdul is just one of the many recognizable faces who has graced the show. Rosie O’Donnell, Tim Gunn, Sharon Lawrence, who was in the audience, Kathy Najimy, Jorja Fox, Liza Minnelli, Delta Burke, Teri Polo, Elliott Gould and Chuck Woolery have all guest starred on the show. So what other names would the producers love to have on the series?

“On top of the wish list, I know we’d love Cher on the show next season,” said creator Josh Berman. “It’s someone who embodies complexity.”

Viewers can also expect to see some returning faces.

Paley Center to Celebrate ‘Diva’s’ First Season With Panel (Updated)

Updated 9/30/09 with new panelists. The press release also says Devon Gummersall (My So-Called Life), who guest stars as “Ethan,” will be there.

One my summer TV surprises was Lifetime’s Drop Dead Diva, a charming, thoughtful show about a shallow model trapped inside an overweight lawyer’s body.

On Oct. 7, some of the cast, led by the very talented Brooke Elliott, will be on hand for a panel at the Paley Center for Media in Los Angeles to celebrate the show’s first season finale. Drop Dead Diva has already been renewed for a second season, so it won’t be last finale.

Here’s the event info from the Paley Center’s site:

Wednesday, October 7, 2009
7:00 pm PT
Los Angeles

In Person:

April Bowlby, “Stacy”
Margaret Cho, “Teri Lee”
Brooke Elliott, “Jane Bingum”
Ben Feldman, “Fred”
Jackson Hurst, “Grayson Kent”
Kate Levering, “Kim Kaswell”
Josh Stamberg, “J. Parker”
Josh Berman, Series Creator and Executive Producer
Neil Meron, Executive Producer
Alex Taub, Executive Producer
Craig Zadan, Executive Producer

Described by creator Josh Berman as a “life affirming dramedy,” Drop Dead Diva comments on society’s shallow obsession with beauty as it depicts the journey to self-discovery by a vapid model, killed in a car crash, who is sent back to earth in the body of a plus-size lawyer. Members of the cast and creative team will be on hand to discuss the Lifetime series, and the season one finale will be shown.

Members: $10
General Public: $15

Tickets purchases can be purchased here.

Summer TV Surprises

Sebastian Stan (Kings), left, Brooke Elliott (Drop Dead Diva) and Merritt Wever (Nurse Jackie).

Summer is typically a quiet time for TV watchers, but thanks to the proliferation of cable shows and broadcast networks burning off episodes, this summer was not without entertainment and some surprises. Below are the moments, actors, shows and realizations that surprised me this summer.

The supporting cast of Nurse Jackie. Yes, Edie Falco is fabulous, but for me, it’s the people surrounding Jackie who make the series, especially Merritt Wever, Eve Best and Peter Facinelli. Each one adds something unique and unexpected to the show. Wever is absolutely hilarious. Best, who has the most amazing laugh, is the perfect juxtaposition to Jackie. Facinelli takes what could have been a jackass character and makes him a lovable doofus. I’m surprised and delighted that Nurse Jackie has introduced me to Wever and Best. In a way, it feels like I’m also discovering Facinelli for the first time. I’ve seen and enjoyed him before in different movies and TV shows, but I’m pretty sure his shirtless chest did most of the acting in Fox’s short-lived Fastlane.

Sebastian Stan on Kings. Thanks to NBC banishing Kings to summer burnoff theater on Saturdays, not too many viewers watched this epic and imaginative series. That’s too bad because as reliably magnificent as Ian McShane and Susanna Thompson were, the real surprise was Sebastian Stan. I’d seen the actor before on Gossip Girl as Carter Baizen, a role he’ll be reprising this fall, but I had no idea he was capable of this. His Jack was complicated, tormented, selfish, lonely and desperately seeking love and acceptance.  Watching him come to accept who he is as he stood up to his mother, was like watching Stan show us who he really is as an actor.

Bonus Kings surprise: No show got a bigger gasp out of me this summer than when Silas yelled at Jack, “And you’re no prince, you faggot!”

Drop Dead Diva. The charming, funny Lifetime series and its extremely talented leading lady have captured my heart. Brooke Elliott is simply fabulous at balancing the duality of playing two characters. Congrats, Diva, on becoming the first original Lifetime series to land on my DVR record list. Thanks to you and SoapNet’s Being Erica, I’m starting to believe that all hope is not lost for shows about real women. Despite the fantastical premises of both series, they’re more relatable and grounded than the ladies of Desperate Housewives.

True Blood: I’m just not that into you. Earlier this summer, I made my way through the first season of the HBO series and it wasn’t love at first sight. I’m not even sure it was like. Everyone around me seems to be crazy for these vamps, but maybe I’ve had my fill of bloodsuckers because I just can’t get into True Blood. I haven’t even attempted to watch season two yet and am in no rush to do so. Maybe my feelings will change if I ever get around to it, but I’m having a hard time imagining myself getting over my annoyance with almost every character on the show.

My new guilty pleasure: Make It or Break It. I thought it would be 10 Things I Hate About You, which I enjoy and is more well-written, but no… At first, I found this series meh, and I still have my issues with Emily — do all her love interests keep disappearing because they’ve realized she’s really not that special? — but its soapy, teen drama storylines and pileup of secrets have quietly gotten me hooked. I have to give the show props for trying to make the adult characters interesting and integral. Susan Ward has taken what could have been a cartoonish character and given her real dignity and heart. Plus, I enjoy playing “Who will Sasha inappropriately flirt with this week?”

Uli doesn’t make the final four on Project Runway: All-Star Challenge. Yes, Daniel’s red carpet dress was fabulous and would look great on Nicole Kidman, although I’m still unclear about who exactly will be wearing the dress at the Nine premiere. The rest of his collection? Bizarre and boring. I loved Daniel and his designs in season 2 of Project Runway, so I can’t help wondering if the judges crowned him the winner because he was the fan favorite that year who didn’t win. And for that matter, did the judges punish Korto because she’s a sulky, sore loser? Has this women ever smiled during her time on the show? Still, I’d keep her in the top 4 and replace Sweet P’s overly twee collection with Uli’s sophisticated and impeccably crafted designs. But as Project Runway reminds me every season, what do I know about fashion?

What surprised you this summer?

— Reposted at theTVaddict.com