in addition to minka kelly and jason dohring, body politic will also feature brian austin green and gabrielle union. this basically guarantees my unwavering loyalty, no matter how godawful it is. i’ve been a big gabrielle union fan since the underappreciated classic bring it on (i’m also enjoying her turn on life), and brian austin green is so dreamy in terminator. if only this show can reach the heights of gossip girl, but i’m sure they’ll mangle government type stuff so badly it will be nearly unwatchable. nearly.

from tv guide:

The CW’s Body Politic is shaping up very nicely, with the addition of Brian Austin Green, Gabrielle Union and others to the Washington, D.C.-centric pilot’s growing ensemble.

Should Body Politic get ordered to series and Fox’s Terminator is unplugged, Green will play the “boy wonder” adviser to the president of the United States, says the Hollywood Reporter.

Union, in turn, will bring it on as BAG’s girlfriend, a legislative director.

Also feeling the CW’s Body are Jay Hernandez (Six Degrees), playing a naval officer, and Reaper’s Jenny Wade, as an idealistic D.C. up-and-comer.

so is brian austin green supposed to be like jon favreau? will there be hillary clinton cutouts on this show? as fake favreau’s gf, has gabrielle union ever appeared in maxim? oh wait, she has.

check out the sweet email i just got from work. apparently they are going to bomb shit near the key bridge for washington field, a new show. and it bolsters my point that DC is the new coolest place to set tv shows. take that LA.

Subject: Notice on TV filming event

For the filming of a TV pilot, there will be a simulated explosion on Wednesday, March 25 between 9:30 a.m. and noon near Key Bridge in the District. The explosion will produce a 20 to 30′ fireball that will last for approximately 2 minutes.

Please pass along this information to others appropriate. The Department of Homeland Security and D.C. Police and Fire departments have been notified, along with the Washington Airports Authority. The Virginia State Patrol and Arlington Police Department will be contacted. If you have additional questions, contact Kathy Hollinger or Burt Warner with the DC Film Office at 202-727-6608.

The explosion will take place on the Potomac River just north of the Key Bridge and Jack’s Boathouse (K / Water Street, NW under the Whitehurst Freeway). In the scene to be filmed, there will be six (6) sculling boats on the Potomac River and one of them blows up.

CBS Paramount television is filming a pilot titled “Washington Field.” This is a new television series about the elite Washington field office of the FBI and a team of agents with exceptional and diverse skills who are called together for only the most critical cases.

Jeanne Saddler
Director, Office of Public Affairs
Metropolitan Washington

my favorite is the description of the show. b/c we all want to watch a “team of agents with mediocre and similar skills who are called together for everyday interstate theft and low-level racketeering cases.”

also, i’m annoyed it takes 3.5 hours to film a 2 minute bombing sequence. well that’s 3.5 hours i won’t be working …

i don’t think i’ve ever worked in temperature-controlled building that has been so damn dry. my eczema has flared up, my lips are chapped (but they’re fine when i go home), my throat is dry, my skin is peeling off, and i drink upwards of 10 cups of water a day.

my first idea was to complain about it. did that, but i have no idea if anything was going to change.

then i decided to look for a humidifier. i found this “Crane Adorable 1 Gallon Cool Mist Humidifier.” who would buy this monstrosity? at least 462 people, since they reviewed it. as maura points out, i would never purchase anything with “adorable” in its name.

now, i’m thinking outside the box. the plan is to take a ton of water and just pour it all over my carpet. then the air will soak it up and it will be humid. right? seems perfectly reasonable.

HOLY CRAP.

Pilot News: Minka Kelly and Jason Dohring Hot for CW’s Body

Friday Night Lights’ Minka Kelly has landed the female lead on Body Politic, the CW’s pilot about an absurdly pretty gathering of D.C. up-and-comers.

Kelly will play Hope, a sweet Michigan gal who, after her mother dies, moves to Washington to connect with the father she never knew — a senator-turned-attorney general (played by Animal House’s Tim Matheson).

Also on board for Body Politic is Jason Dohring, playing a reporter for the Washington Post. Following his run as Veronica Mars’ Logan, Dohring most recently had a series regular role on CBS’ short-lived Moonlight.

let’s discuss how great this is.

1. minka kelly (friday night lights) is from MICHIGAN and moves to DC. sound familiar!?!? unfortunately, no one from michigan looks like her. actually, no one from dc looks like her.
2. jason dohring (veronica mars) is a washington post reporter. hahahahahhaahahahhaha. now we’re definitely in twilight zone. aside from the wire, the portrayal of journalists is always a travesty.
3. is it hard to believe that her father became a senator even w/ a bastard/estranged child? this plot point is actually likely the least absurd of the three. i mean, david vitter is still a senator …

i’m just … really excited about this. i just hope they don’t mangle DC geography like they always do. do you think they’ll be partying it up at smith point? or vomiting on the sidewalks of adams morgan? and let’s predict how many romantic strolls they’ll be taking on the steps of the lincoln memorial or along the tidal basin. dear body politic, here’s some advice: locals NEVER take leisurely visits to the mall unless their cousins are in town. way too many fat tourists waddling along the wide sidewalks or, even worse, riding on segways. i bet a lot of the action will happen in georgetown, where no young washington post reporter could possibly afford to live. unless it’s in a horrible group house or actually glover park.

i think i’d be a pretty badass consultant on a show like this. HIRE ME.

went to nyc this weekend, and i found that there is something that comes close to my utter disdain for hot and muggy summers in dc. that would be the first nice day of the year. in nyc. in soho. and especially in chinatown.

too. many. people. it’s as if there were never going to be another nice day in the world ever. if i were at home, i’d have stayed inside, or at least found me an abandoned section of grass. why would you ruin a perfectly nice day with so many god-forsaken people? got me.

for the record, the ideal day would be 45 degrees, no wind. warm enough to get away with cheap gloves and a nice coat, but cold enough to keep the streets clear. for biking on crowded trails, it has to be even colder. those power walkers are a hearty bunch. takes a bit more to get them out of the way.

i’m back!

clinton, i know you’re reading this. we should meet one day and share high-brow journalistic observations about the absurdity of life. (“bobby jindal IS the indian kenneth the page!” as we swill oregon pinot noir and nibble on tapas.)

well, that was fun. glad it’s over, though.

necessary commentary:

how many times did i shed a tear over this weekend? at least 5 times.

1. when that quartet played ‘simple things.’ yo yo + izthak + the other two = perfection.
2. when obama took the oath. even john roberts couldn’t completely ruin it.
3. when obama talked about science (yeah science) and about restoring america’s standing in the world.
4. when the national anthem played (dude, i get emotional when i hear it at michigan football games …)
5. when i watched obama/michelle dance to beyonce the next morning. i love that song and i love beyonce.
6. endlessly looking at photo galleries that show people all over the world captivated by us.

“wtf?” you ask. “why are you getting misty eyed? you’re not even a big obamaniac.”
first off, i LOVE america. i love it as much as toby keith does, just not in a crazy way. we aren’t perfect, but we still rawk, and we are thismuch closer to sucking less. secondly, people are so happy, and despite my general negativity about everything, genuine happiness makes me cry. it’s why i went to the mall at the buttcrack of dawn — to soak up the positive energy. the euphoria lasted me until at least noon wednesday, which may be a record. OBAMA, YOU ARE A MIRACLE WORKER.

lastly, re: “at last”: unfortunately there isn’t a classic soul song that directly references the election of the first black president … but this is pretty much as close as we’re going to get. in fact, i’m posting lyrics so we all can soak up how perfect this song is:

At last, my love has come along
My lonely days are over
And life is like a song
Oh, yeah, at last
The skies above are blue
My heart was wrapped up in clovers
The night I looked at you
I found a dream that I could speak to
A dream that I can call my own
I found a thrill to rest my cheek to
A thrill that I have never known
Oh, yeah when you smile, you smile
Oh, and then the spell was cast
And here we are in heaven
For you are mine
At last

get it? at last WE HAVE A PRESIDENT WHO ISN’T A STINKY WHITE DUDE. i cry every time at the 2:45 mark.

ps. beyonce is perfect.

went to it.

so. many. people.

i took my own pics, but the nytimes one was better.

program notes:
craig said he got a little misty-eyed when bono did his thing. i was pretty moved by 700k people singing american pie together.

also, beyonce is beautiful.