Jason Isaacs lands title role in Surgeon General

[laurielove]

Thanks for that info, Lady S and Seattle Mel. Very helpful. That article put things very succinctly, if a little starkly.

OK, so, in summary so far, as I understand it: CBS has 'commissioned' (for want of a better word) a pilot for a potential show called The Surgeon General with Jason in the lead. It will probably be filmed in Atlanta. The pilot has not yet been filmed. If it is deemed a success by CBS (picked up), a series will be started and aired but with no guarantee of continuation (depending on viewing figures).

Is that about it so far? Sorry to put it in stark layman's terms, but I needed to get it straight in my head.

Yes, give me a good ol' 6 show series any day - written, cast, filmed, aired, lauded or lambasted, but still on our screens no matter what.

[LadySekhmet]

Yep, that seems about right to me, but you forgot the: "may or may not continue to be filmed in Atlanta for the entire run" bit. Well, we'll just wait and see, which is all we can do anyway (albeit impatiently). Maybe his will be bumped to the front of the line since he was in such demand. *crosses fingers* Although... they will have to manufacture some drama for the USSG, because...well... it's not the most exciting political post to have in the US - at least for the public face, but who knows what goes on behind those doors, there could be fisticuffs over the office coffeemaker every morning -, but JI would be the most handsome one, since...well... like my entire life. lol.

I think that CBS has such a stable run of shows because that they aren't tossing crazy stuff onto the screen, and they still give the illusion at least that they believe that their followers are sentient beings. I have some faith in this because I don't think that JI would choose something that is not interesting to him (and I'm *hoping* this will be a juicy political drama with lots of ins and outs rather like TSW), which means it has very large potential to be interesting to us nor does it seem that he chooses "easy" projects (where he can just phone in a character, no matter what anyone personally feels about Awake, it couldn't have been easy keeping all that info straight). I'm hoping because of all that, it will be interesting to CBS and they will take a chance. So don't feel too down about it, LL.

I totally don't get the 'mumble mouth" thing, (and my mom and step-dad are wicked harsh about that type of thing and they adored Awake and Brotherhood, so it clearly wasn't a problem for them either) maybe that commentator needs his hearing checked.

[SeattleMel]

they will have to manufacture some drama for the USSG, because...well... it's not the most exciting political post to have in the US - at least for the public face, but who knows what goes on behind those doors, there could be fisticuffs over the office coffeemaker every morning -, but JI would be the most handsome one, since...well... like my entire life.

*snort* Yeah, for non-US forum members, I think for many American's, you say Surgeon General and you think of "C. Everett Koop" who was it in the 80s. Not exactly the most handsome man http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:C_Everett_Koop.jpg

But hey, if the govt wanted to give the position a makeover then by all means, lets get some lad on par with JI's looks in that position! Then we can start including the SG's picture on all the smoking label warnings

And for drama, the most memorable thing I can ever recall is the nation's indignation over a suggestion by one SG that masterbation was something that could be taught in school sex ed as an alternative to riskier sex. The horrors!

[Marie]

I was thinking the head of the CDC might have been more exciting. We'll just have to see! In any case I will be watching!

[LadySekhmet]

Marie, I hope JI didn't confuse the USSG with CDC, otherwise he's going to be in for a rude shock when the scripts start appearing. At least the CDC has zombie preparedness on their website! He could've been fighting zombies: http://www.cdc.gov/phpr/zombies.htm

[ln419]

Yeah, I've spoken to the 'mumble mouth' issue before. I don't understand it myself. I know he's taken elocution lessons, maybe he just speaks quickly. WE'VE certainly learned to understant the guy, and in many dialects and accents, maybe those having difficulties need their ears cleaned and to visit a good audiologist.
As for filming in Atlanta on a consistant basis, I tend to think NOT. The whole deal to my understanding (of course I realize it isn't for ME to understand) was to LIVE and WORK in LA with his private hoard of Little Women. I know they shoot shows in LA on sets and when they need outdoor shots, they go to wherever for those shots (they stockpile the need for those shots and do them all at once). Whatever...if it works for them, it's good by me, they've got my okey dokey to be happy however it works for them all . Chag Purim Sameach, ellen

[LadySekhmet]

Here you go, LL, one more thing to blow your mind about US tv. So it looks like someone updated Himself's imdb entry and the Surgeon General is up, but (strangely) they labeled it: "tv movie."

And as side note, I wonder why they haven't updated his imdb to include the 2nd season of Case Histories? Huh. Curious.

[ln419]

I don't think it's particularly curious, I think it's probably a case of 'oh s*it, I forgot!" It'll probably be updated this week, unless someone's on vaca ( which isn't much of an excuse, but...). I'd give them the benefit of the doubt for a week or so. And I'm HOPING SG is NOT a made for TV movie, hoping THAT was a misprint!....e

[thunder]

Pleading Guilty is also classified ad TV movie... I just think they don't have the "pilot episode" classification, so they use what's closest. Nothing to worry about. It will be changed to TV series when/if it gets picked up.

[ln419]

Speaking of C. Everet Koop, he died today. He was like 96. RIP. LN

[Marie]

I saw that in the news - I thought it was strange that we had just mentioned him. RIP - C.E.K.

[thunder]

Jason Isaacs talking about "Surgeon General" (Spirit Awards interview):
http://watch.accesshollywood.com/watch. ... 1818312001

[LadySekhmet]

Thanks, thunder. How fun! Well, it sounds like we're all in agreement, including Himself, on how silly the pilot system is in the US. lol.

PS. I forgot. I was trolling webnews yesterday at lunch and I saw that they cast one of his daughters:
http://www.deadline.com/2013/02/jb-smoo ... s-actress/

[Helen8]

Hey! It ain't shallow to love the sun!

[BethMI]

Holy cow, some of those quotes from "deadline.com" at the end of the article were brutal. I can almost guarantee that if the critics don't like it, I'll love it. Sometimes I swear they are so set on their cookie cutter formulas for shows that they are truly blind to good television, stories, characters, and complete plots.

~Beth (Michigan)

Laurie, here is an article that summarizes the uphill battle facing the Surgeon Gen pilot to actually get picked up
http://www.accessatlanta.com/weblogs/ra ... eneral-ja/