.
"MY NAME IS THOMAS VEIL" . Bruce Greenwood stars as documentary
photographer Thomas Veil, who, in the course of one evening, seemingly
has his whole existence erased. This is one of the greatest show ever made.
In my opinion, only the second TV show in history to successfully pick
up the gauntlet that the prisoner thrown down in 1967 (The second being
Twin Peaks). Although at a first glance it looks like a slick cross between
The Fugitive and The Prisoner, it goes so much further. After you have
viewed The Prisoner a few times you realize that Nowhere Man gives it more
than the occasional nod. However as the show takes you along the road of
wondering how it will conclude (And you do expect something in the style
of The Prisoner) You begin to think you have more insight than the casual
viewer might, however the end is worthy of The Prisoner and takes you by
surprise in a way that was under your nose all a long. Being American it
was obviously cancelled after it's first season because it was intelligent
viewing. But was this such a bad thing? Could it have maintained it's genius
if it ran for six or seven years? Or would it have become main stream like
The X files and only be a shadow of it's former self. Miss this show at
your peril. . . .
.
WHAT THE U.S. TV GUIDE HAD TO
SAY .
.
WHAT THE PAPERS SAID .
Nowhere Man certainly gets
the picture (Chicago Tribune 31 Jan 1996)
Study the picture.<>
Transfer interrupted!
depicts an execution in a Third World country. It was taken by documentary
photographer Thomas Veil, and suddenly one night its mere existence nearly cancelled
out his own.
All record of his identity was erased. His wife and friends denied
knowing him. Veil became the pawn of a conspiracy so vast, it's as if an occult hand had plucked him out of our reality and
dropped him into a private nightmare.
To save his life and quite possibly his sanity, he must discover
the truth about the photo and himself.
Such is the tingly premise of Nowhere Man, which stars Bruce Greenwood
as the beleaguered Veil. It airs at 8 p.m. Mondays (WPWR-Ch.50), right after UPN's flagship Star Trek: Voyager, and
is retaining 60 percent of the Trek audience.
So, Mr. Veil, asks a reporter, thrusting a copy of "Hidden Agenda"
before actor Greenwood what do you see in this picture?
"I see the end of my career, if I tell you exactly what's in it,"
he says, grinning hugely. "In this haze here, I see [executive producer] Larry Herzog, pointing his finger at me, saying 'If you
say what I think you're tempted to say . . . '" Greenwood lets the sentence dangle ominously.
It's a compelling photograph. It shows four hooded bodies in ragged
peasant clothes, hanged from a crude scaffold in a jungle clearing. At their feet two civilians kneel, in prayer or grief,
and a little girl and a soldier look up at the dead.
Behind them, in the left foreground, a burly, brush cut man in camouflage
fatigues, his back to the camera, stands in the door of a Humvee, smoking a cigar and looking at the hanged people.
A solider, helmeted, salutes the interior of the vehicle, while beyond
it, another soldier is shoving along a couple of civilians. In the right foreground, a tattooed soldier draped with bandoleer ammo
surveys the scene.
"It hasn't been made clear where this was taken," Greenwood said.
"And you might cast your eye in here, if you cared to," he said, casually gesturing at the hazy region immediately around the
cigar smoker.
"It's not as hazy as you might think, but that's all I'm going to
say about it," he said, gleefully savouring the moment. "It would be so easy to lead you astray and I'm so horribly tempted."
Hmmm. Detailed examination of the area with a magnifying glass reveals
a corrugated metal roof, a clothesline, crates stacked behind an open truth, the hint of another, taller structure, but
nothing definite. Aaargh!
Veil since has tracked down the tattooed soldier, Harry Corners,
who went insane. "I think he was driven insane not by this event, but by events that followed it, when he was debriefed," Greenwood
said.
"Although he may have thought he knew what he was looking at when
he saw it, even the people there may not have realized the import of the occasion," he said.
"More than that, though. I haven't asked myself, for example, how
many letters are described in that scaffold," the actor said. "There's a lot of the alphabet hidden in that scaffold, if you care
to look at it."
Good grief. A game of Hangman. There's a K, an A, or two, a Y or
an I, an M, an N. KAYMAN? MANIAK? Arrrgh! What a puzzle!
The negative may reveal more than you see here," Greenwood said.
As for Thomas Veil's immediate future, Greenwood said, "I think there
may be a corner up ahead. For some time now, Veil has been convinced that he's sane and he knows at some level, what's
being done to him.
"Suddenly I will find myself looking in the mirror and wondering
if I am who I think I am. Or if what I think happened actually happened," Greenwood said.
"It's a nice place to be, in terms of the drama and of being an actor,"
Greenwood said contentedly. "It's just not very nice for the character."
''Nowhere Man' certainly
gets the picture." (USA TODAY)
CULVER CITY, Calif - For more than a year, UPN has been trying to
attract attention for anything other than Star Trek: Voyager.
Platypus Man, Live Shot, Deadly Games, Legend, Marker, and Watcher
are some of the casualties that have littered the network's schedule.
Finally this season, Nowhere Man caught the eye of critics and viewers.
Bruce Greenwood stars as a photographer whose identity has been erased by a mysterious organization. Each Monday
at 9 p.m. ET/PT, he searches for clues to who he is.
Nowhere Man certainly hasn't raced to the top 10, but its ratings
have been respectable for a show on the fledgling UPN. And more importantly, it has the sci-fi/fantasy cyberspace crowd buzzing.
That's why UPN gave Greenwood a few days off from production in Portland,
Ore., earlier this year to promote the show. Which led to a breakfast of flapjacks with a reporter at the Ship's
diner here.
Greenwood admits that before nabbing the part of Nowhere Man's Thomas
Veil, he auditioned for seemingly every part in Hollywood, including Dr. Jeffrey Geiger on Chicago Hope (which went
to Mandy Patinkin) and Mike Ryan on Almost Perfect (Kevin Kilner).
"That's the actor's lot," he says. "You go in, do your best, and
the door swings on your butt on the way out."
But Nowhere creator Larry Hertzog liked what he saw in Greenwood
and hired him.
"It's a good role for me," says Greenwood, 39. "It was meant to be."
But he took quite awhile to get there.
Greenwood was born in Quebec, spent his early years in Vancouver,
British Columbia, and lived some of his teen years in Switzerland. Returning to British Columbia, he lived as a ski bum.
He was so moved by the movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest that
he enrolled at the University of British Columbia to study acting. But low pay for local acting jobs forced him to work
as a technician in a chemical-mixing factory. Then he joined a Top 40 band as a singer/guitarist and toured Canada for a year.
With $1,000 in his pocket, he came to Hollywood in 1984 and within
a week he found a role on an NBC series called Legmen, about two college kids who do the legwork for a private
eye, played by Claude Akins.
The job lasted only seven weeks. But from there he got parts on Jessie,
Peyton Place: the Next Generation and St. Elsewhere. On the acclaimed medical drama, he played Dr. Seth Griffin,
"a self-impressed scumbag, who got jabbed with an AIDS-tainted needle and found the Lord."
A year as Pierce Lawton on Knots Landing followed. Since then, he
has appeared as Naomi Judd's husband in NBC's miniseries about the Judds' lives.
Now he's Veil, the photographer fighting for his life. "He had a
certain arrogance about him," Greenwood says. "He needed to drop down the ladder a few steps. The experience has given him the
opportunity to think about who he really is."
Greenwood, who lives in Los Angeles with his wife when he is not
working, is still involved with music. He owns and operates a Southern California recording studio and writes songs, some of
which have appeared on children's entertainer Norman Foote's albums and music videos.
After Nowhere Man premiered this fall, Greenwood closely followed
the weekly ratings, but he eventually stopped because the low numbers only brought him down.
"All I can do is try to do the best I can, and if people want to
watch, great."
For now, UPN thinks enough of the right people do.
. WHAT CREATOR LAWRENCE HERTZOG HAD TO SAY
ABOUT SOME EPISODES . .
Something About Her . In the never ending search for a way to break Tom - a way to get
him to cooperate - I began with the obvious: The losses: Fear, love, family
and friends. But then there are the carrots or the gains. Will we "go over"
for power, sex, love or money? In "Turnabout" Tom was certainly presented
with the opportunity to "sell out." He could get his file and all the information
he wanted if only he would "break the girl." Tom didn't go for it, though
it appeared that that worked against him for awhile. His kindness boomeranged
and he was congratulated by The Supervisor for his efforts. Ultimately,
Tom escaped and Ellen - who did go along with the Powers That Be - paid
the price. If only real life was like that. "Something About Her" began
with the notion of just how far would we go for love. It's beginning to
occur to The Powers That Be that Tom's not about to tumble when directly
threatened. So what if they were to threaten someone he loved. But they're
all gone now. That opened the question of "can love be created." And more
so - if you were going to create love (in a heterosexual man) what buttons
would you try and hit. I began to think about "passionate, obsessive love." Have you ever
felt that way about someone and not known why? Have you ever felt that
you would just stop breathing if they left you? And have you ever wondered
just why you felt that way - about that particular person? "Something"
presses a lot of buttons in me. I've watched it with the editors and the
sound mixers and there were a lot of "boy/girl" conversations going on.
(Yes, lotsa women on our staff.) It's also a moody episode, with lotsa
buttons and gadgets. I love the heavies (kind of a "Heckyll and Jeckyll"
of "THEM"). As for the girl - well - been there done that. And almost didn't
live to tell about it. . Paradise on Your Doorstep . I suppose I'll hear from "The Prisoner" fans about this one. Hard
to see "New Phoenix" and not think about the Village. But there's something
different here - The folks in New Phoenix are on Tom's side - or at least
they claim to be. It opens some interesting questions about just what is
our side and just who decides to be "on it." More importantly, I believe
that the episode opens a fundamentally troublesome question: How often
do we become the very thing that we oppose? And how easy is it to rationalize
this behaviour because - when we're doing it, it's "okay" because it's
well motivated (read "it's us"). We seem to be living in a day and age
where "having a good reason" stands paramount above an individually moral
and/or ethical point of view. All one apparently needs is to feel slighted,
marred, injured or overlooked to justify almost any behaviour. It's not
only possibly acceptable to pump shotgun rounds into your parents' heads,
but, under the proper circumstances, it might be an act of political heroism.
We get to rail against racism and sexism with no regard as to whether or
not, in our cause, we are exhibiting the very behaviour that we speak to
overthrow. In the midst of all this, a voice raised against the group-think
will surely be considered a "troublemaker." It opens seriously the question
of "sides" at all. In The Prisoner, there was often a question of "is it
us or them." In "Paradise" we open the question, "what's the difference."
Pre-emption Week Ramblings I guess we've all slipped into the void with
Tom Veil this week; preemption is the television version of "erasure."
I suspect, like Tom, those among us with character and perseverance will
survive. This seems like an opportune moment to let everyone who checks
in here know just what an extraordinary pleasure it's been to "connect"
with people online and "discuss" Nowhere Man. Amidst the Network anxieties
as the ratings roll in, amidst the pressures of production - my stint so
far on the show has been nothing short of thoroughly satisfying and rewarding.
It's true that my heart skips a beat now and then when someone(s) gets
online and dumps on an episode or on a direction we've taken that they're
not fond of. Though we're not trying to please everyone, it is sometimes
distressing to see people who liked the pilot become discouraged by an
episode or episodes. If you are one of those people and you're here reading
this page, I can only hope that you'll stick with us and "take the ride."
I would like to think that we attract an audience among whom a "sense of wonder" is a large factor. (I am pleased and slightly
surprised that the numbers are as large as they are. Perhaps there's hope
yet.) But so far, so good. We are doing well and this "ramble" is just
a long-winded "thank you." It's a thank you to all of you who have watched
the show, enjoyed it, thrown things at the screen and/or written to me
about your thoughts and feelings. I'm not sure that another network will
give me the carte blanche to do another "dream show" and I've been revelling
in the opportunity to share a lot of personal thoughts, fears and ideas
with all of you. Like the tree falling in the forest, nothing created creates
much of a sound without someone being there to "hear" it. The feedback
lets me know that you're "out there" with me, listening and watching. (I'll
try and yell "timber" first.) We're keeping our fingers crossed that Nowhere
Man can make and hold the grade in the ratings classroom. If it does, there'll
be more to come. If I've tickled your collective fancies, if I've stimulated
your imagination, if I've made you ask some questions, I'm thrilled. Continuing
to do so is the most eloquent "thank you" I can offer. I'm working on it.
Happy pre-emption to all and to all a good void. .
The Spider Webb . I suppose that Spider Webb could be considered our "free will" episode
(you knew there had to be one). Actually it's a little bit of a few things,
but free will is certainly high on the list. There's no doubt that there's
a little insider tongue-in-cheek stuff going on in this episode as well.
While we're hammering on Tom, we take a few cracks out ourselves. The idea
originated when Joel Surnow, my Supervising Producer, was talking about
ways to make Tom feel crazy. One of his thoughts was that Tom awakes to
see part of his life being played out on television. I found that too good
to resist. It seemed as if there was an entire episode in that idea, not
just a few seconds of screen time. We began to discuss the concept of how
to "dishearten" people. What better way to dishearten a person, Tom in
this case, than to indicate to them that whatever they do is trite and
predictable. Tom is obviously convinced that if he preservers he can beat
them. Perhaps a demonstration of power would humble and dishearten him.
Perhaps showing him that all his moves are known beforehand will knock
the wind out of his sails. Maybe he'll begin to appreciate the concept
of "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. It poses an interesting dilemma
for Tom. Tom's drive to find answers and to extricate himself from his
problems does, indeed, make him predictable. As Farley Granger suggested
in "Strangers on a Train," having a motive creates problems. Given his
current status, Tom has a "motive" and because he is driven to find answers,
he has, to some degree, become predictable. So how does one deal with that?
How can you persevere while "not acting like yourself?" How do you "turn
away" from the path that you're on without giving up the fight? This is
the stuff of Spider Webb - with a little "inside" humour thrown in. Richard
Kind plays Max Webb. I can assure you that he bears absolutely no relationship
to this author. Well, almost - . A Rough Whimper of Insanity . For some unknown reason, Tom's life has been unceremoniously erased,
eradicated and eliminated. While Tom embarks on the search for the who,
what and why, he crosses paths with many people. Some live their lives
without question. Some have secrets. Some hold fears of darkness even greater
than the ones that drive and possess Tom It seems apparent that in this age of depersonalization, computers
must play a large part. We spend a great deal of time working, playing,
interacting and even falling in love in the world of cyberspace. Computers
can serve as a useful tool in our lives or, in some cases, they can become
our lives. Gaining access not only to the world of cyber-information, but
to a genius "hacker," could prove quite useful to Tom Veil. Since his thorough
erasure might somehow have been achieved through the use of computers,
it stands to reason that a computer might prove to be the pathway to an
answer. But for Scott Hansen, our young hacker-genius, the computer has
replaced all human interaction. He has not been out of the house in years. His
contact with humanity is limited to online and virtual experiences. In
effect, he has chosen the very life that Tom is trying to shake. While
Scott uses his computers to retreat, Tom sees them as a possible entrance;
a way to rejoin the world. These paths converge and collide in "A Rough
Whimper of Insanity." The results are virtually devastating. . The Alpha Spike . "Those who can - do. Those who can't - teach. Those who can't teach
- teach gym and those who can't do anything - taught at my school." The
above is a close approximation of a line from "Annie Hall." It's also a
dead-on description of my experience in the public school system in Teaneck,
New Jersey. From the moment my parents decided that I should be "properly
schooled" (and this started with pre-school) my "education" began. I'm reasonably sure that by the end of the fifth or six grade I
had a fairly good grasp on reading, writing and 'rithmitic. Had it been
taught to the tune of a hickory stick, it might have been a more pleasant
experience. I'm not sure what a hickory stick is for, other than rapping
students across the knuckles, but it has a quaint and charming sound to
it. (Sorta like a "Slim Jim".) But beyond the "three R" basics, I have
to shudder when I consider just what it was that I was being "educated"
to do. In no particular order: Shut up Sit down Stop daydreaming Shut up Don't think Don't question anything that a teacher tells you Obey Follow the rules Conform "Average" is excellent Excellent is "trouble making" Shut up The list could be longer, but I write these "tidbits" pretty much
"on-the-fly" and, frankly, don't have enough time to do them justice. As
I was noting the items above, it occurred to me that I was fortunate that
during my Junior High School years, miniskirts were the fashion of the
day. It helped me in two ways: First, I now knew there had to be a God.
And two, it gave me something to think about between 8:30 and 3:00. (It's
been 27 years since I left school and some things never change.) By the
time I reached the ripe, mature age of 16 - I bailed. No, let me rephrase
that. I rocketed, high-tailed it, got my butt out of there as fast as I
could. (For the record, I did do a seven month stint at New York University
just to prove something to my folks. Having proved it to myself, I stepped
away from the world of academics forever.) Given my ramblings above, it
should come as no surprise that I would want to fire a few return shots.
The fiction of "Alpha Spike" suggests that Sperling Academy is using mind
control techniques; an attempt to brainwash students into groupthink. The
effective end result would be a highly controlled population where individuality
is condemned and where "rising to mediocrity" is the order of the day.
But, of course, this is just a television show and something from a writer's
imagination. Next week ---- . You Really Got A Hold On Me . My highschool girlfriend took the same bus, along with a dozen other
students, five days a week, throughout the school year. One day, at the
tail end of a snowstorm, the bus was late to pick them up. The student
passengers got to school a half hour late. They were immediately called
on the carpet by the principal and marched to the auditorium where they
were asked to write down their explanations of why they failed to be prompt.
Twelve simply wrote: "The bus was late." One, my girlfriend Ellen, wrote
- "I overslept, it was my fault, I'm sorry it won't happen again." After
thumbing through all thirteen responses, the principal looked up and announced,
"It's nice to see that at least one person in this room is willing to tell
the truth."
The outcome of the O.J. trial has stirred up a lot of emotion. Cochran's
appeal to acquit O.J. and "make a statement" about the racial issues in
this country have inflamed a large number of Americans. People have expressed
outrage that a man should be acquitted based on anything other than the
facts. The newspapers, television shows and radio talk shows are full of
people who express outrage at this kind of "group think." Guilt is guilt,
they feel, and that's simply that. To protest this simple thought, women's
groups in L.A. organized to protest. O.J. shouldn't represent African Americans
in this affair but, instead, Nicole should represent battered women everywhere.
Some of these women's groups have supported women who kill their husbands
because their husbands have battered them. A Los Angeles talk radio show host invited callers to comment on
story about a man who, after discovering that his teenage daughter had
been molested by some neighbours, loaded his gun and shot both people in
the back. For an hour, the comments included -- "give 'em a medal." "They're
heroes." "Atta boy." "It's about time."
Lyle and Eric Menendez have confessed to the murder of their parents.
But they have an explanation. They're "abused children." Their defence
was not "insanity" due to the crimes inflicted upon them, but "self defence"
in that "they just couldn't deal with it any longer." Find that the brothers
were members of the family of "abused minorities" a jury was unable to
convict them.
Father .
*****************PRE-EMPTED BY THEM*****************
.
The Enemy Within .
I like Tom Veil. Obviously, having pulled him from my psyche, he and
I are, indeed, related in many ways (though I'm forced to admit that he's
cuter than anything my psyche could've dreamed up). When I first discussed
the idea of the series with Michael Sullivan, President of UPN, he posed
a couple of provocative questions. "Is Tom the 'perfect' hero, being 'humbled'
by 'Them?'" or "Is Tom the imperfect human being who needs these life lessons
to 'grow?'" Not the talk of conspiracies and breaking glass, but a conversation
about just who Tom is and why he might be being put through this experience.
There's no doubt in my mind that Tom possesses heroic qualities. Despite
evidence to the contrary and a battering, the likes of which most of us
have never experienced, Tom persists in holding on to what he believes.
He clings tenaciously to his identity and to the belief that he will and
can, someday, prevail. He has been given the opportunity to "fold" or to
"cash in his cards" and go home, but he has refused the deal. Even Gus
pointed out to him that "You [can] go home an empty man, but you do go home." Tom's courage and his fortitude are part
and parcel of the reason that I admire him so much. But it raises a question.
Is there a downside to this kind of drive and commitment? Can this type
of "perseverance" be indicative of a character flaw? On first look, it
might appear that "The Enemy Within" is a sweet, pastoral withdrawal from
the usual "Nowhere Mania." It's true that "Them" makes an appearance in
their most benign form here (a corporate farming conglomerate) but they
have no interest in Tom this week, nor do they even seem to know where
he is. That said, Tom is given an opportunity to "give up the fight" and
"rejoin the human race." (I suppose one could argue that "they're out there
and would find him eventually" but -- .) Given the world that's been created
for Tom in this episode it becomes interesting to speculate on just how
Tom will handle the situation. I doubt many of us will wonder for long.
Ironically, Gus ("You Really Got A Hold On Me") warned Tom that eventually,
"all you end up living for is the game." Is this already true for Tom?
When Tom complains to Emily that his whole life has been lost, she responds,
"people lose things - they recover - they go on - yesterday is where it
belongs." But can Tom "give up the game?" He has ample reason to believe
that Alyson and the life he left behind are gone. And now, he's got the
very real possibility of a new one staring him in the face. I'm not sure
that we've answered the question (I'm not sure that I know the answer)
but it seemed like one worth asking. Is Tom's incredible determination, in part, a flaw in his character?
Should he consider "giving up the game?" Should he consider a new life?
Can he? And, finally, is this component of Tom's personality somehow partly
responsible for why Tom is in this predicament in the first place? While
"The Enemy Within" appears to be a soft, gentle "departure" show, I hope
that we successfully posed these issues. I believe that we did and I also
believe that it poses questions worth thinking about. Hoping that I survive
"Them" for another week ---
.
,
It's Not Such a Wonderful Life ,
Since Nowhere Man will air no new episodes in
December, this week becomes our Christmas episode and the last of the "old"
year. It seems (mixed in there with Turkey day) a good time for me to say
"thanks." Nowhere Man began, extraordinarily, when Mike
Sullivan, President of UPN, sat across from me and asked, "If you could
do anything you wanted to do - what would you do?" It took a little while,
but I came up with "Nowhere Man." Mike simply said, "do it." How or why
I was deserving of this treatment, I'll never know. But there it was. What
at first seemed exciting became something of a "charge." Though I doubt
that Mike intended it, his "do it" had quickly become "put your money where
your mouth is." I wouldn't have the Network (or anyone else) to blame on
this pilot. In short, it was "all mine." Well, we came, we saw and we -
er, semi-conquered? Whatever the fate or fortune of Nowhere Man,
it began as a labour of love and, as in most relationships, there are times
when the labour has outshined the love. But we're in therapy and we're
"working on it." Perhaps the most rewarding part of the entire
"Nowhere Man" experience has been the opportunity to interact with the
small "core" audience who come online to praise, question, and even jeer
the show. Though there are few consistencies among the posters, it certainly
appears that the "NOWHERE MANiacs" out there are a bright and literate
bunch. What's rewarding, however, goes way beyond the blurbs, the barbs,
the jokes, the questions and the comments. I have been writing for television
for almost 20 years now (yikes!) and have never been asked to "do what
[I] want." Having done that now for almost 13 episodes, heart in mouth,
liver in - who-knows-where? - the support and feedback from the online
community have been nothing short of "life's blood." For those who've compared the show favourably
to "The Prisoner" and/or "The Twilight Zone," I thank you. I consider those
comparisons a major compliment (and will never believe that they are deserved
- but I'm working on it). For those who are "intrigued," "hooked" and in
the "wouldn't miss it" category - again, thank you. To know that, in some way, I was able to take
Mike's charge and run with it - that I have communicated something to someone
- is tremendously gratifying. To further know that we have managed (at
least through the first 13) to get episodes on television that are actually
about something is - mind-blowing, to say the least. Whatever the fate of "Nowhere Man," it has
been worth the countless episodes of "Hart to Hart(s)" and "Hardcastle
and McCormick(s)" to get here. I've had a chance to do something that was
meaningful to me and to come online and talk about it with those on the
"receiving end." When it comes to the Holidays - I've already received
and unwrapped my best and biggest present - our online conversations. For
the ones passed and the ones to come, I can't thank you enough. In return,
I will fight the fight as long as it's "fightable" to keep "Nowhere Man"
on its toes. That said, I wish all of you Happy, Healthy and "Them-free"
Holidays. And you can be sure, when I count my blessings, you'll all be
among them. Larry
.
Contact/ Heart of Darkness/
Forever Jung/ Shine a light on you/ Stay tuned/ Hidden Agenda
.
Sorry it's been so long. The daily bouts
with "Them" get more ferocious on a daily basis. But survival is the job
at hand and I try to take a lesson or two from Tom. We're approaching the
end of the "Palmtop" arc with "Stay Tuned." The palmtop will figure in
a few more episodes but it will take us into more familiar "Nowhere Man"
territory. I've followed with interest the comments on the mailing list
and the newsgroups. Opinions are certainly divided -- not just about the
arc itself, but about individual episodes within the arc. Our responsibilities
are fairly broad ranged. While we owe the audience the best show we know
how to produce, we owe the network and the studio the best ratings that
they believe we can produce. There's not always agreement on the way to
accomplish that -- but we struggle together to find an answer. After all
a good show that gets cancelled isn't nearly as much fun as a good show that attempts to reach a wider
(or wider) audience. I feel that UPN's expectations are realistic. Once
again, it's just the "how to get there." I'm not even sure that we disagree
-- it's just that there are a lot of communications breakdowns in the midst
of daily panics. Hopefully, we will come to conclusions that satisfy the
widest audience. It won't come as a shock to any of the more "experienced"
viewers that "Stay Tuned" owes some of its heritage to "The General" ep
of The Prisoner and something to the film, "Looker." (Ironically, the ep
was conceived before the similarities were noted.) On the other hand, the
topic of mind control is nothing new to Nowhere Man and the palmtop arc
has shed some light on some of the "extracurricular activities" of "Them."
A few other "clues" are peppered in for extra spice. In some ways, though,
"Stay Tuned" is as much a look at the kind of world some people desire
than it is a look at mind control. Do we really want everyone to be happy,
jovial? Do we want our kids to be model citizens who repeat what adults
tell them? Is the good natured slap on the back always the desired goal?
There are the more obvious slaps -- at the media -- at "Them" control (government,
corporate, groupthink, etc.) but there's probably some tongue in cheek
that make it worthwhile. Darby, New York, reminds me somewhat of the towns
I watched on television as I was growing up. "Father Knows Best" families
-- the Cleavers next door. It's a Norman Rockwell world that we're all
supposed to desire -- and yet ---. This also seems a good time to acknowledge
(at least in general) the work that's gone into this show beyond the producer/writer
department. The crew in Portland has been rained on, snowed on, flooded,
bruised and beaten. They have had to produce what I think is one of the
better-looking shows on television at a breakneck pace. From our director
of photography, our production designer to the folks who keep them warm
with coffee -- the cast and crew of Nowhere Man have been nothing short
of miraculous. It's a true case of the "Right Stuff" and these folks have
it in plenty. Bruce has endured a schedule that would kill most people
and he's done it with good nature and lots of talent. Our guest stars and
the local Portland casts have done a solid job and beyond. The folks at
Disney have been hard on us, but generous. They've endured some budgets
that, in their opinion, were way out of line. But they persevered and --
mostly -- gave in. All in all -- episodic television being the day-to-day
war that it is -- Nowhere Man has had some real highlights. We will continue
to push for more and try to get the most out of everyone. The fact that
we get to share it all with our friends online helps to make it all the
more worthwhile. Until next time ---
As some of you know (and some of you don't)
keeping Nowhere Man on track has been a bit of a job. What started as "do
the show you want to do" has quickly become a game of feet scuffling and
second guessing. Considering the nature of the show, it's been an interesting
ride all around. Starting with "Heart of Darkness" and running through
most of February, we are airing our "Palmtop" shows. If you missed "Contact,"
Tom has been given a palmtop computer containing all sorts of information
about "Them." This gives him a chance to be more "active," in network parlance.
I'll be curious to see how everyone reacts to this "arc" of the show, though
I must say while walking down that road, I longed for the Nowhere Man of
yore. Either way, like it or hate it, it's just a phase we're going through.
As we hit "Stay Tuned" we'll be filtering back toward old ways. By the
time "Hidden Agenda" comes up, we'll have some major bombs to drop that
should make it all worthwhile. After that, we're back to normal, whatever
that might be for Nowhere Man. All I can say is that there are a number
of "camps" out there. Some folks really relish the "active Tom." Others,
like me, prefer the more existential dilemmas. Either way, hang in there
-- I'm sure I'll be hearing opinions. Onward and upward -- .
Through A Lens Darkly ..
From very early on, the concept of a "house of
mirrors," or a "house of intrigues" was on the drawing board. It had been
discussed in many forms, including the fabulous episode of The Avengers,
"The House that Jack Built." When I finally sat down with Art Monterastelli
to hammer out the details, "Through A Lens Darkly" really came to life.
I had been very pleased with "The Enemy Within" (also directed by Ian Toynton)
which took a closer look at what might be part of Tom's weakness. In TALD,
we've looked even deeper into Tom and what drives him and what, in fact,
may be part of the reason he's been "chosen." Any hero worth identifying
with should fall some notches below the "perfect" mark. Tom's vulnerability,
his anger and frustration makes him, to me at least, a really solid fellow.
In TALD we get a look at Tom's "obsession," something that apparently began when he was very young. I'm not completely
sure just what it says about Tom but threaded throughout the ep we get
to watch Tom's inclination to"observe from a distance." There's something
to be said for the "observers" of life -- someone needs to stand back far
enough when the madness of being "too close" gets out of hand. But there's
a price to pay for that distance, for holding back to observe. To some
degree, TALD explores this in some very intimate and personal detail. I
can also tell you that this is one of my very favourite episodes. In many
ways, I'm as fond of it as I am of the pilot. I find it interesting that
three of my favorite eps have been the most stormy with the network. (The
other two being "Something About Her" "Doppleganger.") I'm not sure what
that means, but this is, IMHO, one formidable, wowser of an episode. Beyond
some of Art's wonderful scenes, a lot of credit has to go to Ian Toynton,
Jim Chressanthis (our DP, who has been spectacular from the point he joined
us at show 5) and our actors, particularly Sydney Walsh and Sam Anderson.
All in all, a "don't miss." I hope you agree. Larry
Dark Side of the Moon .
I guess the network didn't like this one too much.
It's the only reason I can figure that it's been pushed back so far in
the schedule. It was actually made among the first twelve or thirteen.
This episode should come with a warning, however. It is a bit "off-the-beaten-Nowhere-Man-track."
Where most of the eps have been somewhat "internal" in nature, "Dark Side"
is very external. It's also quite violent. If you tend toward the squeamish
when it comes to violence (not graphical blood and guts) you should be
forewarned. We cut down a lot of it during the editorial process but what's
left is still pretty rough. I believe, though, that "Dark Side" has a rightful
spot in the Nowhere Man archives. There's a theme (or a tone) throughout
the series that this world is not the easiest to survive in; particularly
if you desire to maintain your identity and the elements of integrity that
are supposed to go with that. But there are external difficulties in this
world as well as internal and in "Darkside" Tom finds himself between colliding
forces of violence and evil. When David Ehrman first asked the question:
"What would happen if Tom got mugged and a petty thief inadvertently got
his to set the episode in "Hell;" a particular Nowhere Man kind of hell. James Whitmore, Jr. ("Something About Her")
did a wonderful job, as did our DP, Jim Chressanthus, creating this world
from out of the tangled urban night. It is a world with its own logic and
its own set of rules. Tom, as many people note, "isn't from around here"
and either has to learn the "lay of the land" or die trying. It's interesting
to wonder -- after Tiny steals Tom's carryall -- whether or not Tom's pursuit
of the man is more to get his belongings back or to warn him of what awaits.
It would be somewhat unrealistic to portray one man's battle against "Them"
without showing the violence in the world that "Them" is capable of. After
all, when the allegories have subsided, we still live in a world where
people kill each other to get what they want (or suppress what they don't).
On the other hand, I've never been sure that emotional violence isn't equally,
if not more, damaging than physical violence. (In this respect the physical
violence can be yet another allegory.) This ep didn't garner much enthusiasm
from the Nowhere Man Powers That Be. I like it. If for no other reason
than the fact that it's somewhat different, I think it creates a mood so
intensely and holds it so effectively that I can appreciate the departure.
It's also always interesting to come across the occasional, voluntary "Nowhere
Man." In this case, the "Man" is Margo, a sixteen year old girl. While
Tom desperately fights to find a way back home, Margo feels that "any place
is better than home." Perhaps she has to encounter a man in Tom's condition
to better assess her own situation. All in all, a dark, tough, intense
ep. Not a lot of hidden agendas here -- it's pretty much what-you-see-is-what-you-get.
As always, I look forward to reactions. Th--th--that's
all folks. Larry .
OTHER QUESTIONS FOR LARRY
Well, we're almost through with the first 13
(we've aired 12 including the pilot) but since we're in the "holiday break"
I thought it'd be a good time to post some mid-season thoughts. If you've
read my "thoughts" on the WEB SITE, you certainly know how much all our
interaction means to me. I think the "Family," the "Nowhere MANiacs" are
all a bright, opinionated bunch. One of my favorite aspects of this experience
has to do with "clue-following ." Despite the gazillion times that I've
said that NwM is not a clue show, people persist in digging and digging.
I love that. It reminds me of a true story that happened shortly after
the Pope had de-canonized a number of Saints. I think this was back in
the early 70's. Among the no-longer-sainted was St. Christopher, patron
saint of travel. A cousin of mine hopped into a New York City taxi where
the driver, obviously a practising Catholic, had a St. Christopher statue
on his dashboard (not uncommon). My cousin, Doug, decided to "take him
on." He pointed out to the cabbie that St. Christopher had been de-canonized
and asked if having him on the dashboard wasn't a conflict. The cabbie
looked at him, determined to cling onto *all* his beliefs and said, "Yeah,
I know. I just call him MISTER Christopher." I've read, with interest (and
a smile) comments on everything in the show. I won't bust the bubble but
let me point out a few things. Episodic television, even at its best, is
chaos. Scripts are "eaten" by the production company at the rate of one
every seven days. It's gruelling. In the case of NwM, our post-production
schedule has been equally tumultuous. In short, with the many things that
*are* planned - a lot of things "just happen." I may be watching a scene
while we're editing and say to my associate producer, "hey we could use
a peek at that file that Tom's holding." She sends out our 2nd unit director
to pick up shots. He often calls me and asks for details, but they're usually
cursory, style points at best. He then puts his "crew" together and has
a prop man make up props. None of these people "are in the know" about
the "mystery" behind NwM. It therefore is entertaining to watch people
come on line and tell the world how they've freeze framed this "insert"
and "here's what we know." Please - like the cabbie - don't stop. It's
far too much fun, I think, for all of us. In keeping with the sentiments above -- it
has to be said that not all directors are created equally. You'd be shocked
to know how often we have people up in Portland, behind the lens, who just
don't get it on the most basic levels. So, something tremendously *wrong*
appears on film and then is subject to this level of introspective analyses. Often what some have interpreted as a major
clue, is merely a director's mistake (or lack of talent). Following that, I've had a number of e-mails
(a huge number) from people who are just "getting fed up with this show."
"How can I go on without some clues." ETC. Considering all the above, this
is always interesting to me. There's a group that finds clues in the pauses
between words and there's a group that's "had it" with me because there
are noclues. Well, of course, there are clues. They're subtle (and have
been registered and commented upon by many) but they're there. But mainly,
I've asked some of these "I've had its" how they can be sure that they're
not getting clues when they don't know the answers? (When people get outraged,
"why did they just let him go! This show doesn't make sense!" Again, how
do you know until you know what's going on?) I've taken it upon myself to intercept this
latter group as "the frustrated." Well, hop on folks. In part, NwM is a
show about being stymied, played with , manipulated and f***** over. It's
a show about what it takes to survive in a world as an individual, etc.,
etc. I guess it's not for everyone. The XMAS show has kicked up a lot of
controversy (and that's a good thing). Some people think it was a "rip-off"
some don't. First, it was a little bit of a "joke" to and for myself and
a Christmas present to the "we want answers group." There's been a lot
of speculation about the "history" of this show. A lot of people think
that UPN interfered here and that it once was the "real" ending , etc.
Not even close. UPN had nothing to do with it. It was never planned as
anything other than it was. A Christmas present to Tom and the audience,
inevitably showing them just what and where that present will get them.
I've seen some comparisons to the Prisoner episode, "Many Happy Returns"
and that, I believe, is fair. Someone commented that, "at least MHR was
about something." Well, maybe we didn't communicate it, maybe we did -
but I think that "...Wonderful Life" was about something, too (even beyond
the questions it opens up about Alyson and Mom). I think it's about women
and men on a lot of levels. I think there are times when someone of our
same sex could never illicit the second and third chances that we give
to the opposite sex. If a girlfriend slammed a girlfriend against a wall
on any regular basis, I doubt that she could use "I love you" as the buy-it-all-off
routine. But men do it all the time. Same with men -- if a male friend
betrayed trust in a big way - they'd have an almost impossible time earning
it back. But sex and the need for intimacy is a big lure. It takes what
might seem impossible (a woman staying with an abusive man - Tom reinstating
his trust for Alyson) and makes it likely. The show also goes to the heart of Tom's trust.
With everything "They" did. With the elaborate ruses that were set up.
Even with Alyson's seduction and mom's tearful entreaty -- Tom still didn't
trust it enough to leave the negs in his bag. (Shades of Gus?). Who is
Tom? Will he ever trust? Did he trust before this all happened? Does it
have something to do with why he's in this mess to begin with? I've had
people say, "well that's it for Alyson," no more. But I remind them that
that was said hundreds of times after the pilot. Once she was seen laughing
with Dr. Bellamy it was "history" for Mrs. Veil. I believe it's easy enough
to see a scenario in which the "Veil family" was drugged by Roy's fruitcake,
Alyson and mom were nabbed, Alyson forced to write on the card, and the
place ransacked. Can we really never believe Alyson again?In
any case - what are clues, what aren't clues and what the series is about
has changed very little since its inception. Thisnewsgroups
appears to be the place to come to discuss all of those nuances. Each theory,
each jab, each complaint and each hooray is a wonder and a joy to behold.
Don't let the holiday "hiatus" slow you down. I'll be here and I hope you
guys'll be here too. It's a good time to start watchingthose
old eps on video in slo-mo, looking for answers. Gotta go, someone just
dropped some glasses in my kitchen.Larry
.
EPISODE GUIDE
.
001 Absolute
Zero .
002
Turnabout .
003
The Incredible Derek .
004
Something About Her .
005
Paradise On Your Doorstep .
006
The Spider Webb .
007
A Rough Whimper Of Insanity .
008
The Alpha Spike .
009
You Really Got A Hold On Me .
010
Father .
011
An Enemy Within .
012
Its Not Such A Wonderful Life .
013
Contact .
014
Heart Of Darkness .
015
Forever Jung .
016
Shine A Light On You . 017
Stay Tuned . 018
Hidden Agenda . 019
Doppleganger . 020
Through A Lens Darkly . 021
Dark Side Of The Moon . 022
Calaway . 023
Zero Minus Ten . 024
Marathon . 025
Gemini .
