ABC party

The ABC bash last night at the Abbey in West Hollywood was a swarm of TV writers and celebrities.

As soon as I walked in, I practically crashed into Patrick Dempsey (aka Dr. McDreamy) from "Grey's Anatomy." After sitting down with three other journalists for dinner, I wandered the room and passed by Eva Longoria, Felicity Huffman and Marcia Cross of "Desperate Housewives," plus newest "Housewive" Alfre Woodard; William Shatner of "Boston Legal," Jorge Garcia of "Lost," and from the new shows: Kyle Secor of "Commander in Chief" (and of one my faves of all time, "Homicide"), William Fichtner of "Invasion" and the beautiful Heather Graham of mid-season entry "Emily's Reasons Why Not." I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting.

These network-sponsored parties give out-of-town journalists -- and those in town too if they choose -- an opportunity to interview the stars of these shows in an informal manner, just shooting the breeze.

The problem is that the party gets so loud, it's almost impossible to hear anyone. But that's a minor quibble. It's a fun night out of celebrity oogling.

One From Keith

Here's one of the one-liners from my friend Keith's presentation at last week's TCA presentation:

"We here at the WB are happy to see that Tom Cruise is dating one of our alumni, Katie Holmes from our hit show 'Dawson's Creek.'

"Of course, we always thought if he ended up dating someone from Dawson's, it would've been James Van Der Beek, but we're happy nonetheless."

WB holds court

The WB, home to one of my favorite shows of all time, "Felicity," took center stage at today's Television Critics tour. Like all the other nets, they were touting their new shows this fall — Don Johnson returns to TV in a Jerry Bruckheimer lawyer drama, "Just Legal" — but the highlight of the event was the first WB exec on the dais, my good friend Keith Marder.

Keith, whom I worked with at the Los Angeles Daily News many years ago when he was the paper's TV critic, has been at the WB for about 6 years now as corporate communications guru. For the past several TCA's Keith leads off the presentation with jokes about the TV industry that make even the most cynical critics laugh.

As he always does, Keith's material went over well and was top notch. The jokes are a bit too industry-inside for anyone to appreciate here but huzzahs to Keith and may he be the next Jerry Seinfeld in another life.

Next up for me at TCA, ABC on Tuesday.

Tiger on the loose

With his win Sunday in the British Open, Tiger now has 10 Grand Slam wins and is only 8 behind Jack Nicklaus. In what was once thought of as impossible, it now seems that Tiger has an excellent chance to break the record.

I've said it before... and will say it again... the best sporting event every year is any of the four major golf tournaments -- Masters, US Open, British Open, PGA Championship -- in which Tiger is in contention.

It's not TV. It's HBO

I attended HBO's state of their network address Friday at the Television Critics Tour at the Beverly Hilton. Twice a year, all the broadcast and cable networks come to L.A. to tout their new shows and talk about about how their networks are doing better than ever.

"Entourage" has been renewed for a third season and the way HBO chairman Chris Albrecht was talking, it'll probably be around a lot longer than that. This season, from my point of view, has been great. I'm rooting for Jeremy Piven to take home the Emmy.

March 2006 marks the new-season premiere of "The Sopranos." While series creator David Chase has often said this would mark the end of "Sopranos," he may be softening his stance a little. He's contemplating another season after this one, which is currently filming back in New York.

And for all you Larry David fans out there, "Curb Your Enthusiasm" debuts at the end of September.

As for "Rome," which I covered the nighttime party for Variety, this series is the network's next big thing. It took me a little while to understand who was who in first episode (which premieres Aug. 28) but the prognosis is good. Curious to see what everyone thinks about it.

Movies 2005: Halfway home

Now that we're just past the halfway point of 2005, why not take a look back at the best movies over the last six months. While it may be tough to put a list of 10 together -- it's been a fairly uneventful season so far -- I'll give it my best shot.

And, as always, this is just a list of films that I've personally seen, which doesn't include the well-reviewed "Batman Begins" and highly regarded documentaries such as "Mad Hot Ballroom" and "Murderball," among many others.

Anyway, if you've missed any or all of these and are looking for a night at the cinema (or available on DVD), you shouldn't be disappointed.

In alphabetical order, not preference:

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: A dessert for the senses, Depp and Burton once again team up for an unorthodox winner.

Cinderella Man: Russell Crowe, as usual, was rock solid as Depression-era fighter Jim Braddock. His underdog story was noteworthy but director Ron Howard failed to deliver a knockout punch.

Crash: Well-intentioned and thoughtful look at the racial and class structure of Los Angeles. It has its faults but "Million Dollar Baby" playright Paul Haggis is on his way to an impressive directorial career.

Fever Pitch: I hate the Red Sox but still was enamored with this tale of a Boston fan who can't decide between his two passions: baseball or Barrymore.

Hitch: Who knew Kevin James could be this funny? Nothing lasting about it but at least its original and has the gorgeous Eva Mendes too.

Hostage: Bruce Willis, in one of his best roles, in a taut action thriller about a family under seige by a group of moral-less teens.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants: Based on the popular teen book, this could've gone all wrong but somehow manages to charm anyway.

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith: Uber-geek George Lucas closes out his "Star Wars" legacy -- finally -- with an effort that made everyone happy.

War of the Worlds: Sure, nobody's thrilled with the ending and enough with Tom Cruise already. But Spielberg's special effects wizardry overcame it all.

The Wedding Crashers: Probably the funniest film of the past couple of years. Buy stock in Vince Vaughn now.

So what did I miss? Am I totally off base?