CBS at TCA: Matthew Perry might have a magic car he bought with ‘Friends’ money

CBS had its turn at the Television Critics Association press tour on Monday, and chairman of CBS entertainment Nina Tassler used the opportunity to talk up the success of the network’s new hits this year. “NCIS: New Orleans,” “Madam Secretary” and “Scorpion” have all been officially renewed for a second season, while she said “Stalker” is a contender for next season, but nothing is official yet.

Tassler also used the opportunity to announce a premiere date for the premiere of the new “Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” which will be Tuesday, Sep. 8. As to what viewers can expect from the show, Tassler says “[Colbert] knows that is introducing himself, the real Stephen Colbert, to his audience.” The show will probably still be topical, and as to whether he’ll shake up the format, Tassler says, “Part of the opportunity of being in business with a brilliant talent like Stephen Colbert is really letting him do what he wants to do.”

The day also featured a panel from the stars of the upcoming “Odd Couple” remake, Matthew Perry and Thomas Lennon. Perry took a lot of good-natured ribbing about his “Friends” past, with Lennon saying “If you make ‘Friends’ money, you can buy a magic car.”

The show comes from Garry Marshall, who called Perry his “favorite ‘Friend’”, but admitted that “Tom Lennon I didn’t know from Adam.” Guess he’s not much of a “Reno 911” fan. As to the casting of Perry as Oscar, Perry himself admitted that people thought he’d be a natural fit as neat freak Felix (the role Thomas Lennon ended up in), but that “In real life, I’m much more of an Oscar.”

Also making an appearance were the various ladies of “The Dovekeepers,” a miniseries about the historical siege at Masada based on the book by Alice Hoffman. The series stars Cote de Pablo, Rachel Brosnahan and Kathryn Prescott, and comes from Roma Downey and Mark Burnett. When asked about why this was the right show for them, Downey said there’s “No better person to wrangle large groups of people in remote areas,” an allusion to Burnett’s years of working on the “Survivor” series. The show will premiere after “NCIS” in March, which came as a surprise to Cote de Pablo, who also seemed pleased that her fans would follow her to a new show.

Later on the docket for the day was “CSI: Cyber,” whose panelists variously tried to reassure the crowd that they weren’t going to get hacked while still make us all nervous our devices weren’t protected enough. “I’ve had my identity stolen by two people, both of whom are playing me much better than I do,” said Peter MacNicol, one of the show’s stars.

Series star Patricia Arquette got many congratulations on her big Golden Globes win for “Boyhood,” and said she feels a little like “Superman and Clark Kent right now,” since she’s still doing press for the movie. “I just feel like I’m having a beautiful moment in my life.”

The morning’s final panel featured James Corden and two of his “Late Late Show” producers. Corden struck a very humble tone throughout, praising the company he was in among other late night hosts and saying there were too many talented people in the world to even try to generate a dream guest list.

When asked if he was going to be as creatively fulfilled with this project as he has been with the success of “Into The Woods,” Corden joked that “People get carried away with quite how fulfilling a movie is,” and said “There’s nothing more creative I think I’ll ever do in my career than try to make an hour of television every day.”

The show took its most serious tone when Corden talked about what he might miss, since he’d been spotted at a soccer game recently. “The things I’m going to miss are my parents and my friends,” and not so much the world of soccer. “Taking the kids away from their grandparents is enough to make me cry,” said Corden. “I love West Ham United Football club to bits, but they’re not what I’ll miss.”