Slighting 'The Guardian'

From:Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Date:January 29, 2004
By Rob Owen

Since last week's news about CBS's decision to bench the Pittsburgh-set legal drama "The Guardian" after February sweeps for most of March and April, viewers have been calling me to express their dismay.

Although such a move is not welcome, it doesn't necessarily mean the show will be canceled at the end of the current TV season. ABC's "NYPD Blue" has been replaced by midseason series many times, including its current hiatus to make room for "Line of Fire" ("Blue" returns Feb. 10).

But CBS chieftan Leslie Moonves' willingness to call "The Guardian" a "bubble show" -- TV talk for "on the fence" for renewal -- is troubling.

Mt. Lebanon native and "Guardian" creator David Hollander said he's confident the end is not near.

"I don't really believe 'The Guardian' will be canceled [in May]," Hollander said by phone last week. "I think its audience is loyal and large enough, and the show has a lot of creative life left within myself and [series star] Simon [Baker} and the writers and crew and cast. I don't really believe this is a show that needs to, for creative or financial reasons, be taken off the air."

Hollander said he's most concerned about CBS's level of promotional support for "The Guardian" once it returns in late April.

"I have made my concerns and complaints loudly to the network, and they can do with them what they wish," Hollander said. "I'm a guest. I hope that the show will continue, and I'll do everything within my power to make that happen. ... Given the way it's been promoted and presented, I don't think it has been particularly under-perfoming."

Season to date, "The Guardian" ranks No. 38 out of 176 prime-time series. If it is renewed, a move to less competitive Saturday night is a distinct possibility. Although a Saturday placement is one foot in the grave for some CBS series -- Saturday night's "Hack" will almost certainly be canceled in May -- others, like "The District," have existed comfortably on that night for many years.

Hollander said that if "The Guardian" returns for a fourth season, he'll continue at its helm. He recently agreed to a new deal with Sony Pictures that keeps him as the show runner of "The Guardian" for its fourth season. His previous deal was with CBS Productions, which produces "The Guardian" in conjunction with Sony.

Hollander also has a deal with Focus Features to write, produce and direct a film titled "The Mansion on the Hill." He plans to set it and shoot it in Pittsburgh, but the timetable for the film will depend on whether or not "The Guardian" is canceled. If it is, the earliest he'd shoot "Mansion" is probably sometime in 2006.

For now, "The Guardian" remains his primary effort. He defends it against charges that it's grown too dark in recent episodes that featured Nick Fallin (Baker) returning to drugs and cheating on his pregnant girlfriend, Lulu (Wendy Moniz, who is pregnant in real life, a coincidence that didn't dictate the story).

"Just hang with the show," Hollander advised. "Like any character-based show, darkness is going to come, and it is usually followed by brightness. In episodes 16, 17 and 18 in particular you'll see some pretty remarkable turns in the characters and a little more lift in the show."

The Feb. 10 episode will address the Lulu pregnancy, and newly revealed bisexual Jake (Raphael Sbarge) will get a girlfriend. The last two episodes of February sweeps will focus on the disappearance of Shannon, a teenage girl in the care of Burton Fallin (Dabney Coleman).

To write a letter in support of "The Guardian," address it to CBS CEO Leslie Moonves at CBS Entertainment, 7800 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA., 90036.

From Pittsburgh Post-Gazette