From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE...
Lieber + Bruckheimer = Trauma
Around these parts he's just plain old Jeff Lieber. But in Hollywood he won’t give you the time of day unless you address him by his proper producer/scriptwriter name: Jeffrey Lieber. (Emphasis on the second syllables and don’t you forget it.)
Tomorrow evening (10 eastern) his new television series, Miami Medical, debuts on CBS. After calling in several chits, favors and extortion threats, I finally snagged this EXCLUSIVE interview with Mr. Lieber.
Dressed in Bill Blass sweatpants, a Cardigan sweater unbuttoned to the navel and sockless in open-toed penny loafers, he waved me over to a corner booth at the Voyeur club in West Hollywood. After a hearty exchange of fake laughter over the fact that we were wearing exactly the same thing, and after waving to the RNC staffers who wanted to join us but were tied up in the "Jungle Room," we got down to business:
Cheers and Jeers: Miami Medical is described as "A team of expert surgeons who thrive on the adrenaline rush of working at one of the premiere trauma facilities in the country while drawing upon their wit and irreverence to survive on the edge." C'mon, Jeff...isn't your show just a euphemism for Daily Kos, and shouldn’t you be paying us all royalties?
Jeffrey Lieber: The only difference between the doctors on my show and cast of characters here at DKos is that the DKos folk are much hotter. (Damn that shortage of good looking Hollywood actors. It's always been a problem.)
How the hell long does it take to put an intense series like this together, from the original idea to post-production?
I've been joking the show is a little like the Mars lander. I started developing it a full two years ago. You pitch an idea... you sell an idea... you write an outline... you rewrite the outline... you write a script... you rewrite the script... you re-re-rewrite the script... the script gets picked up to pilot... the pilot gets cast... you shoot the pilot... you edit the pilot... you test the pilot... you get picked up for series... you re-cast some of the actors from the pilot... you outline the series... you write scripts for the series... you rewrite scripts for the series... you shoot, re-shoot, edit the series and THEN... FINALLY... you get to #@!#!#!# Mars and maybe, if you're really lucky, the landing gear works and the rockets fire so you don't go plowing into the planet never to be seen again. Christ, I'm tired just retyping it.
What kind of research did you do as you were developing the series, and what kind of medical consultants do you rely on to make sure it's realistic?
There are three stand-alone, trauma-only facilities in the country. Miami Medical is based on the one in... wait for it... Miami, which is Ryder Trauma on the campus of Jackson Memorial Hospital. I went down there and spent a few days. For the series we've got a medical consultant named Zach Lutzke, who is a working doctor in Los Angeles. We keep him around so I can say things like, "I've just written a scene where a woman starts bleeding from her ear. Could that even happen?" (By the way, the title is not my fault; trust me...the series is much better than the title),
You and Jerry Bruckheimer are both producers on the show. Does he ever just stop down production to engage in random chest-bumping?
I cannot say whether there has or has not been chest bumping, but someday I will show you the kick-ass lightning shaped bruise in the middle of my chest.
What's the most frustrating part about taking on a TV series, and what's the most awesome part?
The most awesome part is it's really freaking fun. Most of working in Hollywood is about developing things that never get made. I've killed more trees getting paid to write scripts that will never see the light of day. On the show, I get to actually make something. I remember this moment on the very first pilot I ever shot---right after the table read---where I noticed the hair people taking an actor away and talking to him about cutting off all his hair. I freaked out and said, "Wait, wait. Why the hell are you going to do that?" And they said, "Because its in the script. Here." And they pointed to where I had written: "He stands there. Head shaved bald." It was the moment it occurred to me, "Oh, dear God. The crap I write actually matters? No, no. STOP! I'M AN IDIOT!"
As for the least awesome part: the stupid shit always undoes you. Actors won't come out of their trailers. The studio guy has a cousin who is an "actress". Network "testing" has decided this line doesn't "read" Father Mulcahy. The WORK... I'd do for free. The people-do-strange-selfish-things-part... that's why they have to pay me.
Would your characters tend to support the healthcare reform bill that recently passed?
I can't say much about the characters, but the creator is very much on board.
One of the characters in Miami Medical, played by Jeremy Northam, worked in a MASH unit during the first Gulf War. Is he more Frank Burns or Hawkeye Pierce?
Hawkeye, absolutely. M*A*S*H is the great-grandfather of the show and if we have any real level of success, I'll keep pushing the series more and more in that direction. In fact, for about a week, we were in the process of writing in a research team comprised of the actors who played Radar, Father Mulcahy and B.J. Hunnicutt. We eventually got Mike Farrell, Hunnicutt, into episode #5.
What will you be doing on April 2, the night the show premieres? Anything special?
I'll be in London with my wife and kids. So, it'll actually be like 4am there when the show starts airing. Total accident. The show's premier kept bobbing and weaving (Olympics/NCAA tourney) and we decided to take my son and daughter across the pond. So, just guessing---knowing my "fabulous" life---I'll be downing bangers and mash with the Queen.
I have to ask: will we one day see a pie fight on Miami Medical? Even just a little one?
Here's what you get in the first 8 episodes: an alligator attack, a man falling through a ceiling, a gunman in the break room, a man with a pole through his torso, medical care analogized into a common deli sandwich, a loving daughter...who isn't really, a man rolled into the trauma suite with 8,000 dollars strapped to his chest, and an in-hospital stabbing and a "Do Not Resuscitate" notice tattooed to the middle of someone's chest. So... Yes... pie fight seems possible. Chocolate silk, anyone?
Then we put a few lap dances on the RNC tab and went our separate ways. As he was about to get in his limo I shouted, "May your Nielsens soar, Jeff!" Dabbing his eyes with a hankie he shouted back, "It's Jeffrey, you east-coast ninny!" [swoon] I'll never wash these eardrums again.
Cheers and Jeers starts in There's Moreville... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Thursday, April 1, 2010
Memo: Ha! Got ya! It's really just our usual Note. April Fool!
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By the Numbers:
Days 'til Easter: 3
Days `til the 28th annual Foothill Quilters Show in Auburn, CA: 9 (h/t planmeister)
Years since Republicans have had an African-American in the House or Senate: 7
Number of African-American Republicans who have served in the House or Senate since 1935: 3
(Source: Frank Rich, The New York Times)
Number of miners who have died of black lung disease in the last decade: 10,000
(Source: Parade)
Babe Ruth's highest salary: $80,000 (1931-32)
Size of the check Susan Boyle will receive today, her 49th birthday, from sales of her debut CD: $6 million
(Source: The Week)
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Your Thursday Molly Ivins Moment:
Ann Richards says one of her frustrations with the Texas legislature is that boys are taught from early on to win---and when someone wins, someone else loses. Richards thinks girls are socialized to find win/win solutions. My favorite example is what any smart mom does when there are two kids and one cookie. The first kid gets to divide the cookie, and the second kid gets first pick of the halves. You can generally count on the moms of the world to find solutions where nobody loses.
To my mind, while [Bill] Clinton is not batting a thousand (he’s barely batting .500), he deserves bonus points for taking on the toughest problems. We’re looking at twelve years’ worth of domestic problems that have been allowed to fester without action, and he’s the spoon that’s stirring the pot in Washington. He apparently just never counted on whatever is in that pot in Washington becoming more like cement than soup.
---August, 1993
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Puppy Pic of the Day: Yeah...thriving is good.
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CHEERS to April. Those who call it the cruelest month have never spent a March in Maine (this year: a record-breaking 11.2 inches of liquid sunshine fell). Besides, baseball season starts Sunday, the Masters golf tournament starts next week (contrary to what some people think, Tiger will likely not be shagging in the fairways), the NCAA's Final Four are starin' each other down, the flowers are starting to go "Poink!", the 11th is National 8-Track Tape Day, the 22nd is Administrative Professionals Day, and the 29th is Shrimp Scampi Day. Then again, taxes are due in 14 days. Okay, fine: cruel it is.
CHEERS to the strange, strange saga of Barry and Billy. The last time Barack Obama visited Portland was September of 2007, when he was but a junior senator facing the formidable Hillary juggernaut. I was there---and even made the paper. On November 4, 2008, I cast my vote for Obama in the same building where he rallied us 13 months before---and the voting booths, as it turned out, had been set up exactly where he'd stood to speak and lead us in several reps of "Fired up! Ready to go!" Today he's coming back to Portland, this time as President of the United States, and our unspoken cosmic symbiosis will continue as he talks up healthcare reform in the exact same spot where I voted for him. The way I got it figured is, Obama comes to Maine to deliberately absorb my mojo so that, like Mario eating a mushroom, he can become even more powerful. He'll never admit it or even comment on it, of course. And that's how I know it's true.
P.S. True story: the day after I attended the Obama rally in '07, my boss called from his yacht in Florida and fired me. I hope that doesn’t happen tomorrow. (Who loves Billy? Who loves Billy? C&J'ers loves the Billy! Yes you do! Yes you doooo...!)
CHEERS to real science. Wow---the knuckledraggers just aren’t having a very good string of luck lately. Obama got healthcare reform through, will soon sign a major nuclear arms treaty with Russia, and dropped in Chuck Norris-style to put the squeeze on Karzai in Afghanistan. Plus right-wing militia members are getting busted for trying to take over the government, Michael Steele is driving the RNC into the financial crapper, and Sarah Palin was caught doctoring interviews for her new TV show that starts today (on Comedy Central, right?) And now comes another blow: word that the research on climate change done by those scientists in Britain whose emails got hacked was accurate after all:
In their report released Wednesday, the [The House of Commons' Science and Technology] committee said that, as far as it was able to ascertain, "the scientific reputation of Professor Jones and CRU remains intact," adding that nothing in the more than 1,000 stolen e-mails, or the controversy kicked up by their publication, challenged scientific consensus that "global warming is happening and that it is induced by human activity."
Wow---something that actually melted before the icecaps: right-wing credibility.
CHEERS (if I must) to April Fools Day. The one day we have permission to put our scruples aside, make up wild stories and endlessly bamboozle people. Or as they call it at the C-Street House: Thursday.
CHEERS to demolition derby day. The folks working at the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland conducted a new round of experiments this week as they try and duplicate the universe's 'big bang.' I'm a little rusty on scientific jargon, but I believe this sounds a cautiously-optimistic note:
"Experiments have seen collisions!!!!!!!!!!!" "First time in the history!!!!!!!!!!!! World record!!!!!!!!"
Translation: they got two subatomic particles to achieve super-high speed and then have a dramatic collision. So why did this test succeed where others had failed? Simple: this time they strapped 'em inside a Toyota.
CHEERS to clearing a path to the gate. The California Supreme Court has ruled that Hare Krishnas and other groups are no longer allowed to hassle, annoy and delay people at the state's airports. The justices unanimously agreed that the airlines were doing a good enough job of that already.
CHEERS to---squeaky squeaky!---that clean-plate sound. On this date in 1889, the first dishwashing machine was marketed in Chicago. We have one in our house---a chocolate lab named Molly. Upside: she saves us a bundle on electricity. Downside: poops way more than a Kenmore.
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Five years ago in C&J: April 1, 2005
Top 10 Things I'm going to do when C&J premieres on the DailyKos Front Page next week:
- Since "Bill in Portland Maine" is hard to pronounce, change my screen name to "Bill Gannon."
- To cut costs, stop changing the air filters in the diaries section.
- Slip "Koufax Award-winning" into every item.
- Change underwear (it's that time of year anyway).
- Make a horrendous encoding mistake, shutting down the site for 3 days.
- Start interpreting the Bible literally. Everyone who deserves a stoning, gets a stoning.
- Start enriching C&J with Vitamin C, folic acid and riboflavin.
- Find out once and for all what the hell a "blog" is.
- Walk up to Armando, press my finger into his chest and say, "I'm putting you on notice, cowboy."
- Look you in the eye and say, "I told you it wasn't an April Fool's joke."
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And just one more...
CHEERS to Rachel Maddow---TV host, razor-sharp political analyst, future not-the-senator from Massachusetts and...Birthday Chick! MSNBC's risingest star turns 37 today. She can skin a conservative with such dexterity that they beg to come back for more, and that's why we love her. But if her media career ever fizzles, she can always fall back on her expertise as a mixologist. Cheers, Rachel, and---everybody say it with me---many blessings on your camels.
Have a nice Thursday. And yes indeed, this is the coolest Census ad ever. Geeky-coolest, at least. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial:
He had a strong showing in the first two rounds but predicted only four of the teams that advanced to the Elite Eight and went zero-for-four in the Final Four. "It is completely blown up," Obama said of his bracket. "It is a sign that I was paying singular focus on Cheers and Jeers," he joked.
---Charleston Daily Mail
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