When Harry Connick, Jr.’s new syndicated daytime variety show Harry debuts on NBC in September, it will be his job to know “everything there is to know” about the guests with whom he’s talking.
Which means no pre-interviews with celebrities—a move that’s meant to feel “liberating” for stars and their publicists, Connick told reporters Wednesday during the Television Critics Association summer press tour in Beverly Hills.
His show also won’t gravitate toward games and stunts that aim to go viral.
“I’m of the opinion that if we go out there and do the show like we want to do … all kinds of crazy things [will happen],” he said.
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As TV critics gathered, USA also revealed plans for a seventh season of Suits, and released premiere dates of October 13 and 16, respectively, for new original dramas Falling Water, from Blake Masters, Gale Anne Hurd and the late Henry Bromell, and Eyewitness, from executive producer Adi Hasak, about two teenage boys with a secret relationship who witness a horrible shooting that changes their lives.
Falling Water, about three unrelated people who slowly realize they are dreaming separate parts of a single, common dream that holds the key to the fate of the world, stemmed from an intoxicated evening years ago.
“We were drunk … it was actually my bachelor dinner, and Henry had this theory about how our dreams reflected our collective unconscious,” Masters said during a panel about the series.
A pilot was written in 2008 during the writer’s strike but they sat on it, and Bromell died in 2013.
“I lost my partner on the show and I lost my brother and I didn’t touch the script for a year,” Masters said. “Then I said I had to finish it.”
SyFy also announced a November 30 premiere date for upcoming futuristic thriller Incorporated, from Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, along with September 23 debuts for new series Van Helsing, and Channel Zero: Candle Cove. Z Nation will also launch its third season with a two-hour special on September 16 before resuming its regular timeslot of Fridays at 9/8 central the following week.
Check out all of Daily Brief’s TCA summer press tour coverage.
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