. >> was it anything like downton abbey? >> no. the resident -- residence is not as formal as some of those in european houses, although the name chief usher comes from the old british term meaning head of the household. there are customs that remain at the white house, the staff still is very responded to be in service to the president, but it would be a far reach to say it is anything like downton abbey. >> mr. walters, i have a simple question. during your tenure, who was your favorite social secretary that you worked with? >> somehow, i have that would come up. of course it was mrs. marshall. -- patricia marshall. [applause] [applause] we spent probably more time with each other than we did with our spouses, working. >> absolutely working. >> this is a lighthearted question, but i noticed when you are talking about the ping-pong you didn't say if he won. >> that is right, i didn't. [laughter] >> you mentioned at one time there was a suggestion during mr. truman's administration that they tear down the white house and start over

. >> and i hate to say it, but it is kind of a downton abbey feel in a way right? there's the two basement floors of the white house and there was actually a basement mezzanine kitchen where the staff would hang out and have meals. and there was a chef there in the '60s and '70s named miss sally who wore these elaborate hats who was just wonderful and cooked for the staff. i think that dynamic is not actually that farfetched. it actually seemed like -- and there was a hierarchy among the staff, you know? you have the chief usher at the top, and then you have maybe -- i don't know who would necessarily -- maybe someone new who was in housekeeping or something like that, and then you have the executive florist and the top chef and the pastry chef and the egos in the kitchen battle. it was really -- to me, i was struck by how much it is our version of downton abbey if you will. it's the closest thing we have in this country to that. any oh -- any other questions? yes. >> [inaudible] >> no. because every part of the house has to be cleaned. there's times where they don

pick up the pace, "downton abbey." stuff has to happen. [ laughter ] throwing down the gauntlet. [ laughter ] finally, we've got "late night with seth meyers." there are dozens of hardworking people on our staff, but no one works harder than this woman, my dimple stapler, monica whitesides. don't believe me, this is what i look like before monica staples on my dimples. [ laughter ] thank you, monica. that was "hidden credits." we'll be right back with ben kingsley. [ cheers and applause ] ♪ throughout ♪ bend the rules of what's possible with the epic hp x360. hey! what are you drinking?ring] i'll take a redd's strawberry ale. what? redd's! i think he wants this. redd's apple ale. also in strawberry and green apple. this is so great, date night. just the three of us. i'm just sayin'. and this is such a good movie too. i mean at the end when it's revealed the grandmother... shhhh.. i mean at the end when it's revealed the grandmother... ...did it. are you... would you be quiet? would you be quiet and move your gigant

., play downton abbey." and pbs helps everyone discover theirs. anytime, anywhere. father: "up in the sky, you might see it." pbs, we're with you, for life. riley: television has become the new film with writing production values, and even superstar talent that rivals anything you'll find at the multiplex. odenkirk: it's a new era of tv. riley: on this episode of variety studio "actors on actors," you'll listen in on intimate conversations between some of the most talented people working on the small screen. it's exactly what i was dreaming about. yeah! riley: get ready for chats between tv veterans julia louis-dreyfus and jeffrey tambor powerhouse women taraji p. henson and queen latifah, royal academy of dramatic art alums maggie gyllenhaal and liev schreiber... schreiber: i was completely riveted by this show. riley: respected mavericks jessica lange and taylor schilling and leading men bob odenkirk and michael sheen. welcome to variety studio "actors on actors." i'm jenelle riley. today's tv stars come into our homes so frequently,

., play downton abbey." and pbs helps everyone discover theirs. anytime, anywhere. father: "up in the sky, you might see it." pbs, we're with you, for life. announcer: "imagemakers" is made possible by the members of kqed. [ techno music plays ] [ cheers and applause ]

do you know the pbs series "downton abbey"? of course we do we love that show. they are the three tv sisters, here are the three edward bunge sisters. here is the house, downton abbey, the humble abode, and here is the chÂteau oude gracht it was called, where my grandfather, erica and her two sisters live theater the chÂteau oude gracht is the house they had 20 minutes outside of antwerp. the bunges also had a townhouse in the city. both sets of sisters lived very privileged lives before the war. the difference between the two sets of sisters is that the edward bunge sisters -- they all lived through the invasion and occupation of belgium and they became part of the humanitarian relief that followed. as all of you probably know, when the germans came into belgium on august 4, the country was thrown into an credible panic. all public transportation shutdown, all communication was shut down. there was no official news from anybody. rumors spread like wildfire. i am fortunate enough to have erica's diaries correspondence, her photos she took over 100 years ago, a

. >> so's basically like if the kardashians moved into down at any a-- downton abbey. >> jimmy: what about it is true? >> it's insane. if you go to newport and take these housing tours you hear about these people in tonight's episode, ben stiller who's playing charles ponzi, the inventor of the ponzi scheme, we give him the gift of a child who wears a turban around his head and is a whipping boy. consuela vanderbilt, like anderson cooper's great, great grandmother? they went to orphan and gave it to her, and not to be part of the family, just to be her servant, and they put it in this costume and this child had to wait on her. but this is a human being! >> jimmy: yours is named taboo in the show, right? >> taboo. >> jimmy: ben stiller is in it? >> ben stiller is in it. >> jimmy: is it fun to get into these big, crazy outfits? it seems to be a nightmare to me. >> i love it, but, you know, yeah. >> jimmy: everyone else is mad? >> everyone else is mad. the microphone people are mad, what do you call them, the sound people? >> jimmy: yeah, the business, sometimes audio if we get real fan

he said "downton abbey." >> not quite that way. >> she's twisting it a little bit. >> no i heard it. i heard it. >> sara heard it. >> it was a beautiful private moment. >> no longer private. >> no longer private, yes. >> it's actually charming. >> never tell paula anything. and you can catch by the way the full special or "raiders raptors & rebels" tomorrow on the science channel. it's ago going to be great. >>> coming up on "good morning america," ian mckellen's hilarious take on one of your favorite pop songs straight ahead in "pop news" with sara. yeah. we need to sell it. hi. need an appraisal? yeah. we do. vo: when selling your car, start with a written offer no strings attached. carmax. start here. welcome to the sleep revolution. all new emergen-zzzz. a natural way to power down. with melatonin plus vitamin c and other antioxidants. to work their magic while you sleep. don't just sleep, revitalize. new emergen-zzzz power down to power up. is that a new washing machine? >>yeah, it's a samsung with activewash. it's got a built-in sink to pre-treat and help get stains out. >>how

abbey," homeland "house of cards", "orange is the new black" and "mad men," which has won the award four times. >> my gut tells me either "game of thrones'" year or one last win for "mad men" for its final season. >> reporter: series star jon hamm earned one last shot at best actor, his eighth nomination. breakout hit, "empire" missed out on a best drama nomination but star taraji p. henson earned one for best actress as did how to get away with murderers a viola davis. >> could be a diva showdown between two first-time nominees and freshman series. >> recognize me? >> reporter: their competition includes orphan back's tatiana muss lanny earned her first nomination but not in the mix is last year's winner, julianna margulies. five-time best comedy win, modern family, has a chance to make it a record six straight. its rivals include amazon's streaming series "transparent" and netflix first year series, the unbreakable kimmy schmidt. >> a pretty hot category and i think pretty tough for modern family to squeak out that historic win. >> reporter: a surprise in the best actor field saw

so we had a lot of things, netflix and everything, hbo, "downton abbey." >> i've never watched so many sporting events in my life, really, i mean, baseball, football, basketball. >> as i trudged through the city patriots quarterback tom brady was featured on a bus shelter ad for ugg boots. he was the picture of health at the top of his game. i'd look up, utter an obscenity, and move on, energized in a way. the chemo nurses understood that silent anger as well. >> i always tell patients to take each day one at a time. each day is different and each day is a battle. but just to continue with that hope to get through the bad days. >> i'd had a lot of them which led to an unexpected surgery. a new test with pluggable febreze. we rented this resort, hid smelly objects all over each villa and plugged in febreze. then real people were asked to stay for a long weekend. would they smell anything? the room itself was like [sniff] ahhh. feels like someone has pumped fresh oxygen into the room. on the last day we revealed everything. oooooohwoww. we were sitting right on it. febreze is stunningly

joining them in the race for best drama is "better call saul," "downton abbey"," "homeland," "house of cards" "mad men" and orange is the new black. "game of thrones'" producer and writer brian cogman grew up in potomac. he told us in a skype interview today his success began when he started doing afterschool place at churchill high school. >> i don't know what i would have done or where i would have been if i hadn't had those opportunities to do plays write plays, perform in plays, learn about the arts and about the history of the arts. it informed everything i do to this day, so yay, montgomery county public school art programs. >> he is in belfast, northern ireland ireland, shooting the sixth season of "game of thrones." >>> d.c. waterfront about to get a dramatic facelift. find out why a lot more folks are about to go down there for more than just the fish market. >>> day care dilemma, the news4 i-team reveals why military families are forced to use their own money to pay for a program >>> one of the most popular places in washington is the old seafood market down on the southwest

., play downton abbey." and pbs helps everyone discover theirs. anytime, anywhere. father: "up in the sky, you might see it." pbs, we're with you, for life. i fix my coffee, i walk my dog. ♪ i go to the computer i check my email. ♪ then i come downstairs and start cutting paper or printing paper. ♪ if i've really got my groove on i'll work on big canvases. ♪ if the groove just isn't working that day, i'll do more rudimentary things like prepping panels

it was like our version of "downton abbey" if you will. it is closest thing to this country we have that. any other questions? yes? >> [inaudible] >> every, every part of the house has to be cleaned. there are times where they don't go on the second floor. that is when the first lady makes it pretty clear that, you know, we want quiet private times. so the housekeepers disappear. the butlers disappear. auto they're right there in case someone wants a cheese sandwich. but, no there is no place whatsoever in the residence that the staff can't go. >> anything else or -- i'm so lucky that you were here tonight. you really have so much to share. really honored. thank you. yes. yes. thank you very much. thank you very much. thank you.

"downton abbey." game of thrones. homeland. house of cards. mad men. and orange is the new black. uzo, cat, thank you so much for appearing with us this morning. wait, wait. i have -- hold on, hold on. i have some more good news. uzo, you have been nominated for outstanding supporting actress in a drama. congratulations. and, cat, you have been nominated for outstanding host for a reality or reality competition program. >> yeah! >> congratulations. >> congratulations. >> thank you. oh, thank you. >> there's a complete list -- we'll discuss that later. there's a complete list of all of the emmy nominees on our website at emmy's.com. we look forward to the 2015 creative arts emmys. >> so there you have it. the emmy nominations for the 67th prime time emmy awards. let's talk about this, the field, the shows, the nominations. senior media correspondent brian stelter is here as well as with us cnn analyst and entertainment editor for the grio is chris witherspoon. i have my highlights but there's a lot in there. there are a lot of great shows. what are the highlights? >> also a lot of

now he's a comedic -- >> are you watching down"downton abbey" abbey"? >> it's been widely seen as a success and it's not the first time a sports star has take an shot at the silver scene. the film "space jam" starring michael jordan scored more than $200 million worldwide. a more forgettable attempt, was shaquille o'neal's ka zam. but they say james may be positioning to work behind the scenes. >> i think for the athletes who come in and try to be actors first and talent first the risk is if it doesn't go well you don't get the shot that leebron james is getting. >> his company has already produced several tv shows. his earnings are close to $65 million but warner brothers says he become the brightest crown estest jewel in the king's crown. >> for "cbs this morning," los angeles. >> it left some wondering if lebron could star in "space jam 2." it's something they've denied at this point. we'll see. >>> all right. a school teacher face as powerful enemy but she's got a small army and a up thetry superstar, that's next on "cbs this morning." ♪ mfortable

abbey. and we object to that sort of equation between fatherhood and public rule. according to this common story americans ever since have been marked if not entirely defined by a general aspiration to fatherlessness. the french philosopher put it this way, that quote, the american is the one who has freed himself from the english paternal function. he is the son of a torn father. and only believes in a society without fathers. in theory in some way, i think most americans are on board with that. and yet in practice here we have two american thinkering who seem to suggest all be it in different variations that one can measure the health of pollity with the health of parenting in it. both appeal to father dom as a political test and social vibrancy. well an easy explanation might be to say that the frenchman takes his own argument that the americans have a paternal complex when it come to the united kingdom. all those geopolitical daddy issues are going to bubble up to the surface in speech.

., play downton abbey." and pbs helps everyone discover theirs. anytime, anywhere. father: "up in the sky, you might see it." pbs, we're with you, for life. >> edgar: after a 14-and-a-half hour flight from new york to tokyo, it feels like you've stepped out of a space capsule and emerged on a futuristic planet. at first, the sleek modernity of the city feels familiar. but before you can say "konichiwa," you start to notice that many things in japan are not always what they seem on the surface. it's a city of clean lines and striking, modernistic architecture, impossibly polite pedestrians that actually wait for the light to change before crossing the street, and high-tech trains that are quiet, fast, and always on time.

"mad men" up for best drama against "downton abbey" and "house of cards." >> all of my favorites. >> what about you? >> i'm hoping for "mad men" now that the show is wrapped but they're all terrific. and you know we got to mention a few of our "pop news" faves. miss boo-boo kitty, taraji p. henson up against viola davis. >> get away with murder. >> some feel they did for not nominating "empire" for best drama. no emmy nod. lee daniels had a lot to say on social media. now saying, oh he's just kidding. >> no he wasn't. >> but then not pleased about it but we see how it shakes out when it airs september 20th. >> i can't remember the last time a show got that much buzz as "empire" and grew every single week and didn't get it. >> i hear you. a lot of people talking about that on social media this morning. >>> then finally in "pop news," or also "pop news." a search for the greatest concentration of handsome men in the country. ♪ i need your love ♪ >> we found one anyway. oh there's another. wow. >> go fonzie. >> in the studio. ♪ i need your love ♪ >> public service announcement f

"mad men" up for best drama against "downton abbey," "house of cards." "homeland" and "better call saul." >> all of my favorites. i watch every one of those. >> what about you? >> i'm hoping for "mad men," sentimental favorite now that the show is wrapped, but they're all terrific. and you know we got to mention a few of our "pop news" faves cited for individual acting honors. miss boo-boo kitty, taraji p. henson up against viola davis who taught us -- >> how to get away with murder. >> which some feel they did for not nominating "empire" for best drama. no emmy nod. the creator lee daniels had a lot to say on social media. now saying -- oh, he's just kidding. >> no, he wasn't. >> fan of the show are not kidding, not pleased about it, but we see how it shakes out when it airs september 20th. >> i can't remember the last time a show got that much buzz as "empire" and it grew every single week and didn't get it. >> no, no. >> okay. >> i hear you. a lot of people talking about that on social media this morning. >>> then finally in "pop news," or also in "po

abbey. and we object to that sort of equation between fatherhood and public rule. according to this common story americans ever since have been marked if not entirely defined by a general aspiration to fatherlessness. the french philosopher put it this way, that quote, the american is the one who has freed himself from the english paternal function. he is the son of a torn father. and only believes in a society without fathers. in theory in some way, i think most americans are on board with that. and yet in practice here we have two american thinkering who seem to suggest all be it in different variations that one can measure the health of pollity with the health of parenting in it. both appeal to father dom as a political test and social vibrancy. well an easy explanation might be to say that the frenchman takes his own argument that the americans have a paternal complex when it come to the united kingdom. all those geopolitical daddy issues are going to bubble up to the surface in speech.

. >> downton abbey, no cursing and it's on pbs and it's huge. >> yes. there are lots of great shows on a variety of networks. there's lots of good programming right now. i love how to get away with murder which is a new abc show last year. plenty of good shows on broadcast television and lots of good shows on cable, and people find the shows. where the good shows are, they find them. >> there's the argument for content again, andrew. >> going back to espn where i was going to go with this show was, does the economic model work long term for espn? if you're collecting close to $7 per sub and 100% of people are paying for it even if you believe only a third or whatever the number is are watching it will a third pay three times as much? that's the fundamental question? >> yeah. and, look, that is the question and i think that's one of the things that they're trying to model at this point in all likelihood. but when you think about -- espn is the one network, the one brand, that is really must carry. >> cnbc also. >> of course. but i think that the cable ca