Skywalker
02-14-2008, 10:08 PM
`Dear John' lures wary Hirsch back to television as lonely guy (Nov. 6, 1988)
LOS ANGELES - Judd Hirsch is having better luck than the characters he plays on the stage and screen.
In his Tony award-winning role in Broadway's I'm Not Rappaport, he was a man going ungracefully into old age and contemplating suicide.
In the critically acclaimed movie Running on Empty, he's a 1960s activist who's still on the run from the police.
In NBC's Dear John, touted by some as the biggest hit of the fall season, he's a schmuck whose wife has run off with his best friend. He seeks comfort in a singles group that reminds you of Bob Newhart's therapy sessions.
The series, like his previous hit Taxi, sought out Hirsch. The man behind Dear John, and Taxi before that, is Ed Weinberger.
``When this came along, I wasn't available,`` Hirsch says. ``I was on stage and doing a couple of movies. I was getting very cautious about going back to television unless I found something as good as Taxi.
``This looked good. It's based on a successful English show, so you don't have to agonize over getting it into shape.
``Most actors don't have this opportunity. Most get into situations with doom written all over them. I'm not immune to that, but I've been lucky.``
Also in his favor is the fact that the show is scheduled between two perennial ratings winners, Cheers and L.A. Law.
In Dear John, which made its debut last month, Hirsch plays a New Rochelle, N.Y., English teacher named John Lacey who gets a goodbye letter from his departing wife. Unable to cope with being suddenly alone, he joins a singles group.
``I think of him as a very capable hapless man,`` says Hirsch during a lunch break in his dressing room. In one corner is a piano. Next to it is a handmade ``one-man band`` instrument.
``That's the one I play,`` Hirsch says in an aside as he sits down behind his desk. The sleeves of his green-and-white striped shirt are rolled up and he's wearing black horn-rim glasses.
``You'd expect him to take care of himself, but he can't,`` Hirsch continues. ``He thought he was happily married for 10 years. He suddenly finds himself totally alone. He's a fish out of water.``
This is the fifth series for Hirsch, although his first was so brief it didn't make the record books. He twice won Emmys as best actor in a comedy series for Taxi.
``The first television I did I thought was the best series ever made,`` says Hirsch, referring to NBC's The Law in 1974. ``It became the best series never made.``
In The Law, which won an Emmy as the best TV movie of 1974, Hirsch played a public defender. The attempt to turn it into a series foundered when NBC insisted that he become a private attorney. Hirsch says that several shows were made, but that he doesn't know what happened to them.
His next show, for CBS in 1976-77, was a detective series called Delvecchio, sort of a precursor of Hill Street Blues. Its creator was Steven Bochco, who went on to develop Hill Street.
``The Law begat Delvecchio, which begat Hill Street Blues, which begat L.A. Law, which is probably what The Law would have been,`` Hirsch says.
Hirsch's third series, Taxi, is his only television success to date. The Emmy-winning comedy ran from 1978 to 1983, first on ABC and then on NBC.
His most recent show was Detective in the House, which was briefly on CBS in 1985.
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sptimes/access/51408870.html?dids=51408870:51408870&FMT=FT&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Nov+6%2C+1988&author=JERRY+BUCK&pub=St.+Petersburg+Times&edition=&startpage=11&desc=%60Dear+John%27+lures+wary+Hirsch+back+to+television+as+lonely+guy
LOS ANGELES - Judd Hirsch is having better luck than the characters he plays on the stage and screen.
In his Tony award-winning role in Broadway's I'm Not Rappaport, he was a man going ungracefully into old age and contemplating suicide.
In the critically acclaimed movie Running on Empty, he's a 1960s activist who's still on the run from the police.
In NBC's Dear John, touted by some as the biggest hit of the fall season, he's a schmuck whose wife has run off with his best friend. He seeks comfort in a singles group that reminds you of Bob Newhart's therapy sessions.
The series, like his previous hit Taxi, sought out Hirsch. The man behind Dear John, and Taxi before that, is Ed Weinberger.
``When this came along, I wasn't available,`` Hirsch says. ``I was on stage and doing a couple of movies. I was getting very cautious about going back to television unless I found something as good as Taxi.
``This looked good. It's based on a successful English show, so you don't have to agonize over getting it into shape.
``Most actors don't have this opportunity. Most get into situations with doom written all over them. I'm not immune to that, but I've been lucky.``
Also in his favor is the fact that the show is scheduled between two perennial ratings winners, Cheers and L.A. Law.
In Dear John, which made its debut last month, Hirsch plays a New Rochelle, N.Y., English teacher named John Lacey who gets a goodbye letter from his departing wife. Unable to cope with being suddenly alone, he joins a singles group.
``I think of him as a very capable hapless man,`` says Hirsch during a lunch break in his dressing room. In one corner is a piano. Next to it is a handmade ``one-man band`` instrument.
``That's the one I play,`` Hirsch says in an aside as he sits down behind his desk. The sleeves of his green-and-white striped shirt are rolled up and he's wearing black horn-rim glasses.
``You'd expect him to take care of himself, but he can't,`` Hirsch continues. ``He thought he was happily married for 10 years. He suddenly finds himself totally alone. He's a fish out of water.``
This is the fifth series for Hirsch, although his first was so brief it didn't make the record books. He twice won Emmys as best actor in a comedy series for Taxi.
``The first television I did I thought was the best series ever made,`` says Hirsch, referring to NBC's The Law in 1974. ``It became the best series never made.``
In The Law, which won an Emmy as the best TV movie of 1974, Hirsch played a public defender. The attempt to turn it into a series foundered when NBC insisted that he become a private attorney. Hirsch says that several shows were made, but that he doesn't know what happened to them.
His next show, for CBS in 1976-77, was a detective series called Delvecchio, sort of a precursor of Hill Street Blues. Its creator was Steven Bochco, who went on to develop Hill Street.
``The Law begat Delvecchio, which begat Hill Street Blues, which begat L.A. Law, which is probably what The Law would have been,`` Hirsch says.
Hirsch's third series, Taxi, is his only television success to date. The Emmy-winning comedy ran from 1978 to 1983, first on ABC and then on NBC.
His most recent show was Detective in the House, which was briefly on CBS in 1985.
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sptimes/access/51408870.html?dids=51408870:51408870&FMT=FT&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Nov+6%2C+1988&author=JERRY+BUCK&pub=St.+Petersburg+Times&edition=&startpage=11&desc=%60Dear+John%27+lures+wary+Hirsch+back+to+television+as+lonely+guy