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Page 2 June 1 - 7, 2015 'The Whispers' sound off in new ABC suspense series By Jay Bobbin © Zap2it The next time you hear a child claim he or she has an imaginary friend, it might be worth believing. That's one of the les- sons of "The Whispers," an ABC suspense series whose executive produc- ers include someone who often gives lots of credit to young characters, Steven Spielberg. Premiering Monday, June 1, the show doesn't choose just any locale to spin its tale: The kids in question reside in Washington, D.C., so their alleged new buddy knows where to strike if gaining power and influence is the aim. As the youngsters al- legedly are guided into increasingly alarming actions by their unseen pal, known as Drill, an FBI agent (played by "Ameri - can Horror Story" veteran Lily Rabe) who specializes in child behavior is drawn in. She doesn't know it, but she has even more of a link to the situation: Her hearing-impaired son (Kyle Harrison Breitkopf) also is communicating with Drill. In "The Whispers" as originally constructed, Drill was an alien intelligence, but series creator and co-executive producer Soo Hugh explains the show's makers decided to "pull back on some of the story and change some of the reveals. The question of what is Drill, who is Drill, plays a bigger part in the series now. We want- ed to make that question more of a season-long question. There's people making conjectures of what and who Drill is, and some people may jump to the gun of 'alien,' whether or not we bear that out." Among others in the "Whispers" cast: Barry Sloane ("Revenge") as a Defense Department agent seeking related answers in the Sahara; Kristen Connolly ("House of Cards") as the wife he cheated on with the widowed Rabe character; and "Heroes" alum Milo Ventimiglia — seen re- cently on Fox's "Gotham" as the sinister ogre — as an enigmatic character appropriately named John Doe. Is John Doe supposed to be the embodiment of Drill? "You can't make out exactly what he's there for," Ventimiglia says, "but you know it's ominous, and you know that it's dangerous, and you know that it's something you've got to follow closely and watch because it's got to relate to the greater pic- ture." For Rabe — the daugh- ter of playwright David Rabe ("Hurlyburly") and the late actress Jill Clay- burgh ("An Unmarried Woman") — "The Whis- pers" means working fre- quently with much young- er co-stars. She deems that "one of the greatest joys I had doing this show. "I think all children are pretty extraordinary, and getting to work with chil- dren is always so much fun, because it's exactly what you're chasing all the time in a scene part- ner ... which is someone who just wants to play and who is completely, wholly present. And it's different every time. And all the things that excite me as an actor, you get that in spades with kids. And these kids were very special." When "Hot in Cleveland" began, Betty White was supposed to be only a guest star, but it didn't work out that way. The indefatigable seven-time Emmy winner – who recently added a Daytime Emmy for lifetime achievement – became one of the continuous calling cards of the TV Land comedy, which ends its six-season run with an hourlong finale Wednesday, June 3. White's saucy Elka has her swan song with the Los Angeles transplants whose Ohio house she's tended to, Melanie, Victoria and Joy (Valerie Bertinelli, Wendie Malick, Jane Leeves). "Oh, it was a very emotional, loving farewell," White says of filming the last episode, which deals largely with Joy's wedding plans and related complications. "We all got carried away, but to end a six-year series with everybody still adoring each other so much is a privilege." White is amused that her "Cleveland" stint ended up lasting that long, following her earlier runs on the classics "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "The Golden Girls." She recalls, "I said, 'I'll do the pilot, but if the pilot gets picked up' – and how few pilots get picked up, so we weren't worried about that – 'I can't do it.' Because of the schedule, I couldn't attach myself to it. And now, years later ... ." TV Land's first original scripted series, "Hot in Cleveland" abided by the network's founding credo of being a haven for familiar television faces, with numerous guest stars from White's former series comrades Moore and Edward Asner to Carol Burnett and Bob Newhart. The show also offered a couple of live episodes and incorporated animated segments into one story. "I still think we had a few more years left in us, but it wasn't meant to be, unfortunately," Bertinelli says of the sitcom that has counted Sean Hayes ("Will & Grace") among its executive producers. "They wrote such a beautiful ending, I don't think anybody will be disappointed. It's crazy and wacky, like we can be, but then it ends with such a really sweet heart. The great thing about our show is that we had a lot of love in there, and you'll see that." Bertinelli also will be seeing her "Cleveland" cronies again, since she reports they made off-camera reunion plans before they left the show's set. "There are not as many roles of women of our age out there," notes the "One Day at a Time" alum. "There just aren't, and it's a shame, because I think we're all still very funny and we have a lot to say. I think there's room for everybody." BY JAY BOBBIN 'Hot in Cleveland' signs off with series finale Milo Ventimiglia stars in the suspense series "The Whispers," premiering Monday on ABC.

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