Honeymoon with the critics

The new president of ABC prime-time entertainment and the television press corps will always have Paris.

Steve McPherson, the former head of Disney’s Touchstone Television Studios who was named president of ABC Entertainment in April, will conduct his first confab with journalists gathered in Century City for the annual Television Critics Assn. press tour via satellite from Paris -- where he will be spending his honeymoon next month.

McPherson, 39, who is getting married later this month, promised his fiancee when he accepted the job that it would not interfere with their wedding or honeymoon plans. Because ABC was unable to switch schedules with the other networks, the show will go on July 12 and 13, even though the chief programmer will be in the City of Light.

In a personal letter to members of the TCA, which he will mail out soon, McPherson describes his new job as the “culmination of a lifelong dream, but I’m about to take part in an event that’s even more important to me, and one that will have a far greater impact on my life ... and I’m determined to keep my word (seems like a good way to start our life together, no?).”

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Maria Elena Fernandez