Terry Morrow: Kelsey Grammer's yammering, Jeff Daniels' nap took TCA press tour

BEVERLY HILLS — This has been an unusually odd Television Critics Association press tour on the celebrity weirdness scale.

Here are some examples:

Got your digits

Emmy winner Kelsey Grammer took a cell phone call in the middle of a press conference and held up the proceedings as he yammered away.

Seriously.

Here's how it went down:Grammer's cell rang while he was on stage with the primary cast of his series "Boss" on Starz.

"I have to answer this for one second," he said to the room.

"(Speaking on phone.) Hi, honey. Okay, cool. I'm on stage right now, but go ahead. Yeah. Oh, that sounds great. That's great.

"You know, they should bring the truck up. They should bring the trucks so they can go to Universal after that. Okay. Call Stan, though, because he'll be able to get you oh.

"OK. (starts rattling off a phone number). No. That's OK, honey. (rattles off same phone number a second time) They're enjoying this. It's the whole Press Tour."

Then his mike was cut off so his entire conversation was not being broadcast to the entire room.

After a couple of minutes, he hung up and went back to talking about how fabulous he thinks his show is.

When asked why he took the call, which made for an awkward and (some say) rude moment, Grammer's reply was: "Well, there are some things that are more important than others, and the well being of my wife sits atop the charts."

Counting sheep

Apparently Jeff Daniels wasn't all that worked up over the controversy his HBO series "The Newsroom" carries with it.

During a session with TV critics about the show, Daniels looked as if he was nodding off as writer/ executive producer Aaron Sorkin addressed criticism.

As Sorkin spoke on, Daniels closed his eyes and hung his head, appearing as if he just took a quick nap up on stage.

Then a reporter jokingly referenced Daniels napping on stage when she asked him a question.

Fully awake, Daniels didn't win over a lot of critics by saying — with a smile (or maybe a smirk) — that it took him years to ignore critics of his work.

Guess that makes us even. I've spent as much time ignoring his films.

Shots

When I walked into Johnny Knoxville's Hollywood office, he greeted me with a shot from a blow dart gun. It barely missed my important parts. Before I left, he did it again. This one stuck.

Gotcha question

Sarah Palin caused a commotion by attending the NBC summer party for critics. She was accompanying her husband, Todd, who's doing a reality competition for the network. Her face looked like the result of cheap-looking plastic surgery around the mouth.

Terry Morrow may be reached at 865-342-6445 or morrowt@knoxville.com.

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