Home › Entertainment › Television
ABC's 'Eli Stone' has an uncertain future
ABC Loretta Devine plays Patti, the bossy secretary who works for attorney Eli Stone (Jonny Lee Miller) on "Eli Stone."
Tune in
"Eli Stone": 10 p.m. Thursdays on ABC.
STORY TOOLS 
More from TelevisionLOS ANGELES — Loretta Devine practically floats down the red carpet.
She's Mae West and Madame CJ Walker all rolled into one, and when reporters and photographers shout "Loretta, Loretta. Over here," she obliges and sashays over to them.
Devine, 58, is all grace and smiles, even when she talks about the uncertain future of her current job — playing Patti the bossy secretary on ABC's musically quirky law dramedy "Eli Stone." Unfortunately, the series only retains just over half of the 12 million viewers who tune in to "Lost," its hit time slot predecessor.
"I'm having fun and I hope viewers are too, but we don't know yet if we're going to get picked up," Devine said with unflappable charm at the 39th Annual NAACP Awards held last month. "It's a sassy secretary role but I'm happy to be working."
Finding work hasn't been an issue for Devine, who got her big break in the original 1981 Broadway production of "Dreamgirls."
These days, it's all about the small screen. This is where a role on "Boston Public" led to small roles on "Everybody Hates Chris," "Boston Legal" and a recurring part on "Grey's Anatomy." On the latter, she plays Adele Webber, the melodramatic wife of top doc Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.).
Devine, who co-starred in 1995's "Waiting to Exhale," switched back to movies and appeared in the family flick "This Christmas" (November 2007) alongside the likes of Chris Brown. Her role as the movie's sensible matriarch earned her a NAACP outstanding supporting actress nomination.
On "Eli Stone," the Houston native once again lends the voice of reason, this time for a boss named Eli (Jonny Lee Miller), a modern-day prophet who helps people through the musical numbers in his head.
Article discussions on this site are to support community debates of issues related to our stories and editorials.
Discussions should not stray from the subject of the story or editorial.
We do not allow the following:
- Posts that degrade others on the basis of gender, race, class, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation or disability.
- Disparaging remarks, abusive language or obscene comments.
- Threats, whether obvious or veiled.
We reserve the right to delete threads and/or ban users for these or other reasons we deem necessary.
Opinions are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.
Comments are found beneath the Yahoo! ad below.