Craig Ferguson takes his humor to Paris

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.

School's in session already for TV critics -- we're cramming for the fall season's upcoming shows at the two-week parade of press conferences and parties we call press tour.

The stars and execs usually come to us en masse at the Beverly Hilton, that swank home of the Golden Globes that's considerably less glitzy when you're sitting at conference tables furiously typing on your laptop.

So it's always fun to sneak off-campus as we did Tuesday night and find local folks doing fun stuff -- like next week's Paris-produced week of CBS' "The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson."

Expecting a transplanted talk show? Au contraire. You'll see guerrilla filmmaking -- let's accost French strangers on the streets and draft them into our comic madness! -- epitomizing the anything-goes attitude that makes Ferguson's late-nighter a special treat.

Huntington native (and onetime Newsday intern) Michael Naidus, who produces the show, let Ferguson loose to schmooze Parisians and wander through Marie Antoinette's Versailles palace bedchamber. Yes, there'll be a few studio bits, like Ferguson's absurd Aquaman character answering advice queries underwater with a French accent. The audience for Tuesday night's "Late Late Show" at CBS Television City got to watch Ferguson tape gags to be edited into Paris footage.

Naidus was still awaiting word from network higher-ups about scenes shot amid scantily clad performers at Paris' celebrated Moulin Rouge cabaret. Tune in to see what's left in.

ROYAL TV MOVIE Hallmark Channel gave critics a first look Wednesday at its Aug. 27 TV movie "William & Catherine: A Royal Romance." And it looked charming, at least in a brief preview reel of a meet-cute college scene and a meet-the-parents luncheon -- even if seeing familiar faces Victor Garber and Jean Smart as Prince Charles and wife Camilla is a bit disconcerting.

"This film attempts to kind of humanize them," Garber told critics. "I think because enough time has passed since the tragedy of Diana's death, they're being seen in a different way. And I think Will and Kate had an enormous positive effect on how they were perceived."

Scriptwriter Linda Yellin has been here before. She wrote the TV movie "The Royal Romance of Charles and Diana" 30 years ago. Yellin said she didn't just feel "responsible to reveal things about the royals that you haven't seen before," but also to tell "a story that we can all relate to with our own families."

ADVENTURES IN WEATHER If it seems like The Weather Channel is everywhere, well, it is. It's on TV, online, on mobile devices (40 million users!) and on other NBC-owned channels. With its forecasts so widely available, this "weather content company" now devotes more TV time to slick real-life adventure. Its newest docudrama debuts Nov. 9: "Coast Guard Alaska," an Al Roker-produced ridealong with the sea-rescue guys otherwise seen on Discovery's cable blockbuster "Deadliest Catch."

ESPN'S OTHER SIDE ESPN always shows TV critics a more intimate, inspirational, reflective side. Its new reality series "Rise Up" (starts Sept. 13) shows star athletes helping impoverished schools build up their sports facilities. Also expect more from ESPN Films starting with "Catching Hell" (Sept. 27), viewing the vilification of fly-ball snagging Cubs fan Steve Bartman as the 2003 team blew yet another championship chance.