Jersey-born actor likes legal roles

From:Courier-Post
Date:April 26, 2003
By BRIDGET BYRNE

Alan Rosenberg has played many lawyers in his career, but he believes his role as legal aid-crusader Alvin Masterson on the CBS drama The Guardian is the best one yet.

For starters, he finally has a first name with more than three letters. There's been "Eli, Stu, Ira, Sam, Max . . ." Rosenberg ticks off the clipped names with a grin. "This is a bit of a stretch; Alvin has got five letters."

Eli Levinson was a divorce attorney in both Civil Wars and L.A. Law. More recently, Stu Brickman was on call for legal issues on Chicago Hope. His `worst' job

Then there was Ira Woodbine, the ex-husband of Cybill Shepherd's character on Cybill, which became "the worst job of my life," said Rosenberg, when the actress took over the reins of the struggling sitcom.

Rosenberg now plays Masterson, who runs the office where troubled attorney Nick Fallin (Simon Baker) must perform community service on The Guardian. The drama, which airs Tuesday nights (9 p.m.), is in its second season.

"I enjoy the opportunities this show takes to reveal the issues of the day," the 52-year-old actor says. "I get a chance to say things that are sort of like my own politics, my own ideas, my own feelings. That's important, especially in these tumultuous times."

Rosenberg is eating corned beef and cabbage with other cast and crew in a parking lot behind a church in midtown Los Angeles. He apologizes for his "sloppy" eating habits. He explains that he somehow manages to be both "messy and disorganized" and "obsessive, compulsive." Would rather do good

"Alvin is a sort of refugee from the '60s with high ideals," Rosenberg said. "At least he used to have very high ideals but I think somewhere along the line he became a little complacent, until Fallin came into his life and started shaking him up a bit. He's opted for a life where he can do some good rather than make a lot of money, and he's comfortable with that."

Rosenberg also is comfortable with holding on to the ideals that made him very active in the antiwar movement when he was in college during the Vietnam era. "It's time for that kind of activism again and it's fun to play a character of like mind," he said. Wants to speak out

He believes actors should speak out on issues that concern them.

"I'm looking for more opportunities to speak out, actually," he says. "I think in times like these, we are all obligated to talk about what we believe."

Series creator David Hollander hired Rosenberg because he wanted someone who had a distinctly liberal feeling about him.

Rosenberg, who was born in New Jersey, studied political science at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, then attended the Yale School of Drama. At moments when his acting career stalled, he dabbled with the notion of becoming a lawyer.

He credits his brother, the late studio executive Howard Rosenberg, and a 1966 copy of Playboy magazine with spurring his political activism.

"There was an interview Playboy did with George Lincoln Rockwell, the head of the American Nazi party," Rosenberg recalled.

"He said that there were a couple of Rosenbergs executed back in the 1950s for spying and there were a lot of other Rosenbergs walking around who deserved to be executed, too. That kind of opened my eyes: `Wow, there are people out there who hate just because of who I am and what my name is.' "

On TV
`The Guardian' airs 9 p.m. Thursdays on CBS.

David Hollander ... Show runner of The Guardian

From:AUS US Magazine
Date:2004

David Hollander is the creator and show runner of CBS' popular television series 'The Guardian', which stars Australian actor Simon Baker. Baker plays a Pittsburgh lawyer (Nick Fallin) who is busted for drugs and is sentenced to fifteen hundred hours of community service, whilst continuing to work at his father's high finance law firm. Hollanders other credits include numerous plays and screen plays, including co-writing 'Rated X', which starred Emilio Estevez and Charlie Sheen. AUSUS Magazine spoke to Hollander about creating the show, working with the Australian lead, and the future of the program.

Q: Tell me something interesting about yourself.

(laughs)I'm a pretty mundane person really. I've got three kids and a wife. I couldn't be less interesting at this point in my life. I basically work twelve to fourteen hours a day, go home, tend to my kids, and sometimes come back to work. I try to stay out of here on the weekends if I can help it. If I'm directing I could be here at 5:30 a.m. But it's awesome. It's a good job.

Q: What's your background?

I grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, went to Mount Lebanon high school and Sewickley Academy and then college at Northwestern University. I started out as a playwright. I actually came to Los Angeles wanting nothing to do with film and television. I came here to work in theater and was living between here and New York, writing plays and having them done. Scott Rudin saw one of my plays and gave me a movie deal. The golden handcuffs so to speak. The money was interesting and I thought I'd experiment with Hollywood for a while and pretty soon ten years had passed. It's been one job after another, not all good, but that's just how it's all unraveled.

Q: What was the play Scott Rudin saw?

A play called 'The Sun Dialogues'. It played out here (LA) and in New York at the Soho Rep. I was also the resident playwright at The South Coast Rep and have worked at the Coronet (LA), Chicago, Seattle, all over the country. I was lucky enough to have my plays produced straight out of college. It's not much money though. Twenty to twenty five thousand is a good amount for a play. It's a very academic pursuit.

Q: What are the similarities and the differences between writing for theater and television?

TV is really just theater but with money and time pressure. Theater is also about ideas and language and its relationship with the audience. TV is, for the most part, plot driven. You grab an audience and try to hold on to them. The thing that's nice about TV is because you use the same characters week in week out plots can slowly be taken over by character & it merges with character in a way that movies cannot. In time, on this show, or any show that I like to watch, you don't really come to the show for the plot. You maybe watch 'CSI' or 'Law and Order' for the plot but on a show like ours you don't. You come to it, I believe, for the development of the characters, which is a bit of the merging of what TV and theater can do.

Q: How did 'The Guardian' come about?

Well I had this idea and I thought there was no way I wanted to take the character I was thinking of and put it into a movie about a guy that sees the light. I didn't want my character to change that much...ever. And I thought my characters' problems were much more subtle, not as acute as in movies where they want a major problem and then they want it solved now, such as putting the fire out. I knew that I just wanted to sit with this character for a while. I pitched it to the network and for whatever reason they bought it.

Q: How did you find Simon Baker?

Simon came at me from two directions. I first started to look through the usual fifty suspects and none of them seemed to make any sense to me at the time so I started scouring the agencies and we happened to share the same agency and one of these agents was a friend of mine and she said, '... why don't you meet this guy'. So we did, we had breakfast together, and he seemed nothing like the character. Sitting across the table from me he didn't make any sense to me at all. He was a very gregarious and very smiley person. I found nothing of the 'lawyer type' in him and even though he'd lived in Sydney for a long time he has that real sense of the outdoors in him, a very free spirit and I just didn't see it. But I was also sick at the time, I had a fever, so I thought we'd better meet a second time and we did and I liked him. I really enjoyed his company, we had a lot of things in common. So I left the meeting and talked to the networks and I said I liked him and they agreed.

Q: Tell me about working with him.

It's a collaboration. It began with what's going to make this character work and what's going to make this character work for you (Simon). What I like about Simon is his silences and his ability to think on screen. He's a highly emotive, visceral person who likes to have a good time and who likes to express himself. Simons not at all buttoned down. I'm pretty buttoned down which is probably where the character comes from and from the energy where I grew up which is a relatively small working class industrial city where we don't really talk about feelings. What's interesting about Simon as the character is what's going on behind his eyes, because he does have all these feelings and thoughts which is that he just wants to bust out of this suit and never have to shave and never have to cut his hair and just be able to wear jeans. But this is his job and this is what he has to do. And then this allows him to do what he does best, which is feel it and think it but not speak it. That's what makes the character work and that's the nice combination of literary ideas and Simons literal acting ideas...how do you find the beats, how do you find the way to the end of the scene. We're very interested in challenging each other in the sense of me putting less on the page and seeing what he does, or him asking me certain questions and seeing what I do. It'll be interesting when the show is over to look back at this relationship and see what's come of it from the perspective that when you're on the show you're constantly at it, in a very healthy way, but you're constantly in debate.

Q: What's the future of 'The Guardian'?

Just to keep writing and producing it and hope that thirteen million people keep watching it each week. And just keep being creative on the show, making no judgments.

'The Guardian' makes its case for renewal

From:The Associated Press
Date:April 21, 2004
By Lynn Elber

LOS ANGELES -- When a series faces the threat of cancellation, producers do whatever they can to keep it alive: seek publicity, badger the network for more promotion, spy.

Spy?

Sure, says Mark Johnson of "The Guardian," whose hope for another season depends in large part on whether CBS decides it's found a replacement that might draw higher ratings in the 2004-05 season.

Johnson and fellow executive producer David Hollander, the series' creator, aren't remaining idle while the network ponders its options.

"We practically steal scripts out of Xerox machines," Johnson said, engaging in just a bit of hyperbole. "I also canvas agents: 'What do you hear about this one? Have you talked to anybody who's seen that pilot?' ... It's not like I can do something subversive, but I can get an idea of what's out there, what's working and not working."

Johnson and Hollander believe "The Guardian," in its third season, is working well and deserves a future. But it's a show "on the bubble," in industry lingo, braced for a possible, fearful pop.

The drama, starring Simon Baker as wayward attorney Nick Fallin, airs its last two episodes of the season -- and maybe the series -- on April 27 and May 4, at 9 p.m. EST.

"I don't think they've (CBS) decided if the show is gone," said Hollander. "I would like to know one way or the other."

First, he figures CBS has some amends to make. "The Guardian" was pulled in March to give "Century City" a six-week tryout. When it flopped within a month, "The Guardian" was thrust back on the air so quickly that TV guide listings couldn't be updated to alert its fans.

"You're on the bubble, but we'll pull you off the air. You're on the bubble, but we won't promote you," said Hollander, giving his take on network logic. "You're on the bubble and we'll put you on when we please -- and do great things for us."

His frustration, speaking the day after shooting wrapped, was understandable. Hollander has been hands-on for the vast majority of episodes, mixing writing, directing and producing tasks.

He would typically be saying goodbye to the cast and crew for their summer break while he started work on scripts for next year.

But it wasn't business as usual at the offices "The Guardian" calls home on the Sony studio lot. The staff was preparing for a funeral that may or may not happen, packing up as if the show had already died.

If it returns, so will they. But the outcome won't be known until next month, when CBS presents its new fall schedule to Madison Avenue in the annual "upfront" extravaganza.

In the meantime, CBS remains mum. That leaves Hollander and Johnson to do the talking, hoping to catch the attention of viewers and network executives.

What can they say or do at this late date? They have the ear of CBS Chairman Leslie Moonves, they say, and are lobbying for more on-air promotions that could give "The Guardian" a ratings boost.

A solid if unspectacular performer during its run, "The Guardian" is averaging 10.5 million viewers this season, down 13 percent from last year.

More dangerously, it lags in the advertiser favored 18-to-49 age group that CBS, after long disdaining such demographic parsing, embraced when it began to make inroads with younger viewers.

"The Guardian" attracts a little more than a fourth of the young adult crowd that watches CBS' "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation." The second "CSI" spinoff, set in New York, may be hovering over "The Guardian's" time slot.

Being pushed aside by yet another procedural franchise show would be an especially bleak ending for "The Guardian." Dramas like "CSI' and NBC's "Law & Order" are the trend now, character-driven shows the exception.

"We're an out-and-out character show. It's not about finding out who did what to whom," said Johnson. "I hope there's room for us."

He speculates that, if renewed, "The Guardian" could draw in more viewers by becoming "a little less dark, a little less cold and _ Simon Baker will hate me for saying this _ but let's see him smile and laugh a couple more times."

He acknowledges it's difficult to make promises to change while campaigning on a show's track record.

Hollander won't even try.

"I couldn't promise anything I haven't already delivered. I've already given them 67 hours of television. They know what `The Guardian' is ... All I can really say is, 'Take me or leave me.'"

Baker Enters Horror 'Ring'

From:Zap2it
Date:Apr 14, 2004

Simon Baker, lately of CBS' "The Guardian," will enter into the horror franchise with the sequel to the chilling 2002 film "The Ring."
Baker, 34, will co-star with fellow Aussie Naomi Watts in "The Ring 2," which continues the tale of a videotape that mysteriously kills its viewers, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Baker and Watts are longtime friends, although reports say that Baker won his role through auditioning, not favoritism. It is the first time the two friends have worked together.


Hideo Nakata will direct the DreamWorks project, which begins shooting in mid-May.

Baker last appeared in "Book of Love," which debuted at this year's Sundance Film Festival. He's also appeared in "The Affair of the Necklace," "Red Planet," "Ride with the Devil" and "L.A. Confidential."

Baker tries on DreamWorks' 'Ring 2

From: Hollywoodr Reporter
Date:April 14, 2004
By Chris Gardner

Simon Baker has circled his way into "The Ring 2" for DreamWorks and helmer Hideo Nakata.

Shooting starts in mid-May on the sequel, with Baker set to play the male lead opposite Naomi Watts in the ongoing tale of a mysterious videotape that proves fatal to viewers.

Although it will be the first time Baker and Watts have worked together, the two have been friends for years -- both call Australia home and share the same manager, Untitled Entertainment's Jason Weinberg. Baker's wife, Rebecca Rigg, also is best friends with Watts.

However, sources close to the project said that Baker's friendship with Watts wasn't a factor in his casting. He was required to audition for the role, and it was his reading opposite Watts that won him the part.

DreamWorks co-heads Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald are producing with production executive Mark Sourian overseeing at the studio. Ehren Kruger wrote the script.

Baker is repped by Endeavor, Weinberg and the law firm Hansen, Jacobsen, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren & Sloan. The Golden Globe-nominated star of CBS' "The Guardian" has been seen onscreen in "L.A. Confidential," "The Affair of the Necklace," "Ride With the Devil" and "Red Planet." He also starred in the 2004 Sundance Film Festival selection "Book of Love" opposite Gregory Smith and Frances O'Connor.

''Guardian'' will return early

From: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Date:April 06, 2004
By Rob Owen

CBS's "The Guardian" returns to the air tonight at 9, three weeks ahead of schedule.

The Pittsburgh-set series was taken off to make room for the midseason futuristic legal drama "Century City," but because "Century City" bombed in the ratings, "The Guardian" returns with a new episode. ("Century City" is effectively canceled.)

"Guardian" creator David Hollander said he's trying not to read anything into the network's decision as it pertains to the future of "The Guardian" beyond the current season. In January, CBS CEO Leslie Moonves described "The Guardian" as "on the bubble" for renewal. A final decision is unlikely to be made until mid-May.

"All I know is 'Century City' didn't do the numbers remotely that our show does," Hollander said by phone last week. "What I'm hoping now is that it doesn't hurt us by having been off the air for a few weeks and by not having a lot of promotion attached to coming back on the air."

Only four original episodes of "The Guardian" remain for the current season. New episodes air tonight, next Tuesday, April 27 and May 4.

Hollander will be in town April 15 with series star Alan Rosenberg and a small crew to film two scenes to be inserted in the season finale, which he's also directing. Shooting locations will be in an alley near the building whose exterior is used as Legal Services of Pittsburgh (at Fort Duquesne Boulevard and 7th Street) and on either the Roberto Clemente or Seventh Street bridge.

Tonight's episode is more of a stand-alone story, but Hollander said the final three build to a crescendo -- but, in case the show is canceled, no cliffhanger.

"I think the loyal audience will be thrilled. It's a really beautiful arc that goes to places the audience expected but never really expected would happen. If this is the finale of the series, it's a really lovely finale. If not, it's a great launching pad for next year, and it's another corner I must write myself out of. Not a cliffhanger, but certainly a new beginning."

Hollander said he's had conversations with Moonves about the show's future.

"He's been very encouraging without being committal. He plays his hand close, and I respect Les, I really do. He's got a tough job."

Hollander said the loyal audience for "The Guardian" -- and the failure of a replacement to improve on its ratings -- makes the series a necessity for CBS.

"I have a real hard time believing the show isn't coming back," he said.

From Pittsburgh Post gazette

Help Save The Guardian

From:The National Downs Syndrome Society
Date:April 6, 2004

The CBS primetime show THE GUARDIAN, which features an ongoing plot about Down syndrome, is in danger of being cancelled. The show began to delve into the many complex issues facing new parents of a child with Down syndrome in the February 2004 episode titled "All is Mended." In the episode, characters Nick and Lulu learn through amniocentesis that their unborn child is diagnosed with Down syndrome. As they struggle with this unexpected news, they learn about the abilities of people with Down syndrome by taking on the legal case of a young man with this condition and helping him with a theatrical audition. Subsequent episodes have dealt with establishing special needs trusts and other preparations for having a child with Down syndrome. With the birth growing closer and the 2004 season coming to a close, THE GUARDIAN has not been renewed by CBS and has been mentioned in the media as a show that might be cancelled.

The producers of THE GUARDIAN have proven through these recent episodes that they plan to handle the plot about Down syndrome in a responsible and sensitive manner. They have worked to ensure that their representation is accurate and realistic. If THE GUARDIAN is renewed for the 2004/2005 season, issues affecting the Down syndrome community will continue to receive high visibility with a national primetime audience. The public awareness that can be generated through this type of show is considerable!

If you want to urge CBS to renew THE GUARDIAN, you can contact them in the following ways:

MAIL:
Nancy Tellem
President
CBS Entertainment
7800 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036

EMAIL:
Go to CBS.com Click on "Feedback" at the bottom of the home page.

Alas, CBS decides to put 'Guardian' back on

From:Detroit Free Press
Date:April 5, 2004
BY MIKE DUFFY

In the Nick of time, CBS came to its senses.

Just three weeks into an extremely low-rated life, the futuristic legal drama "Century City" has been killed off by the Eye network.

And that means "The Guardian," starring Simon Baker as tortured soul and Pittsburgh attorney Nick Fallin, returns at 9 p.m. Tuesday on CBS to reclaim the time slot that had been temporarily filled by illin' "Century City."

It's an early homecoming for "The Guardian," which had not been scheduled to escape from Hiatusville until April 27. That's good news. But the future for Baker and his show are still somewhat hazy, with "The Guardian" resting on the ratings bubble for a fall season renewal.

But "Century City's" quick demise can't hurt.

Nick Fallin, a recovering drug abuser with all kinds of emotional issues, is one of the few dark, complicated and truly interesting lead characters hanging out in a leading role on CBS's lineup. It's a lineup that often favors relatively stiff, one dimensional male protagonists like Mark Harmon of "NAVY NCIS," Craig T. Nelson of "The District" or David James Elliott of "JAG."

Thanks to Baker's fine, nuanced performance, the honestly flawed humanity of Nick Fallin makes him a borderline antihero. Dabney Coleman's support presence doesn't hurt either. Refreshing.

'Guardian' still endangered

From:Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Date:March 04, 2004
By Rob Owen

CBS's "The Guardian" won its time slot in the overnight household ratings twice last month, so I thought maybe CBS chairman and CEO Leslie Moonves would be ready to revise his January comments that the Pittsburgh-set show is "on the bubble" for renewal for next season. I was wrong.

"The status is really the same," Moonves said in a teleconference Tuesday. "It's still doing decently. Three years ago there would have been no question about 'The Guardian' being on our schedule, [since it's] winning in viewers and households. But we're paying more attention to the 25-54 [demographic] and, dirty word, even the 18-49 [demographic]."

"The Guardian" ranked fourth in the 18-49 demo this week.

My gut says the show will be back, but with "CSI: New York" in development, I could easily see "The Guardian" shunted to low-rated Saturday night.

There's a lot more room on 'the bubble' this year

From:USA Today
Date:April 4,2004
By Gary Levin

Viewers have become more picky, and so have the networks.

Just 12 prime-time series are hovering "on the bubble" between renewal and cancellation, a record low for USA TODAY's seventh annual Save Our Shows poll that asks you to pick which — if any — deserve another season.

Why so few? Network execs faced with bored viewers say they have cut their losses more quickly this year. And with the measuring stick for success lower than ever, more shows are being renewed early, including critical favorites but marginal performers such as ABC's Alias and NBC's American Dreams.

Last year, 19 shows were on the bubble, and in 2002, 24 made the list. But this year, each of the six broadcast networks has just a pair of series it's considering for fall; the rest have either been consigned to the trash heap or are destined for renewal.

Ten new shows are keepers, including NBC's Las Vegas, ABC's Hope & Faith, CBS' Cold Case and Fox's The O.C., while 26 others are goners. And along with nine other freshman series on the bubble are three lagging veterans: CBS' The District and The Guardian, and UPN's Star Trek: Enterprise.

Producers this month are frantically trying to save their shows by pitching changes — often belatedly — to unhappy networks. "If we pick up another season, you'll see the main character be more of an adult" and less "emotionally stunted," Guardian creator David Hollander says.

Despite a vacuum left by departures of long-running Friends, Frasier, Ed, Angel and The Practice (which will be spun off into a new drama with James Spader), it's tougher for shows on the bubble to win reprieves.

That's partly because of an increasing preference for tried-and-true spinoffs, with a new Law & Order and CSI on tap next season. And it reflects the increasing dominance of reality series, which account for the top-rated shows on five of the six networks. Though these shows are not represented here, don't look for American Idol, Survivor, The Apprentice, The Bachelor or America's Next Top Model to disappear anytime soon.

As for the rest, here's your chance to weigh in, by voting at life.usatoday.com. The deadline is April 19.

'Century's' legal eagles lose retainer at CBS

From:NY Daily
Date:April 2,2004


"Century City" is no more.
CBS has yanked the legal drama after four episodes and will replace
it next week with "The Guardian."

"Century City" centered on a law firm in 2030 and starred Hector
Elizondo and Nestor Carbonell.

Trouble is, airing Tuesdays at 9 p.m., "Century City" faced
the "American Idol" steamroller on Fox. It also didn't help that
critical response was middling at best.

So it is that next Tuesday, "The Guardian," starring Simon Baker as a
lawyer thrust into community service after a drug bust, will be back
on the air.

"The Guardian" has also struggled to gain traction this season. It's
been labeled a bubble show by CBS executives, meaning its future is
uncertain.

CBS will begin running new episodes of series

From:The Futon Critic
Date:April 2, 2004


The Eye will begin running new episodes of series, not repeats as previously reported, when the drama returns to CBS' schedule on Tuesday, April 6 at 9:00/8:00c. Here's how CBS describes "Remember," the first of the show's final four episodes this season: "Nick defends a sexually abused teenager who seems to be protecting his father from being implicated in the crime, on THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 6 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Bill Norton directed the episode from a script by creator and one of the series' executive producers David Hollander. A teenage boy's failed memory about the details of the sexual attack in his home leads Nick and the police to assume that the boy's father might be guilty of sexually abusing his son. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh police hope that by forcing Alvin to turn over files from past child clients, they will be able to solve a string of murders involving convicted pedophiles. Also, Lulu offers Emily a job at legal services."

Help needed

From:The Florida chapter of the ALS association
Date:April 2, 2004
By Dara M. Alexander, President

To:
ALS Association family and friends

From:
Dara M. Alexander, President

Subject:
Help needed

The March 9 episode of The Guardian -- featuring the character portrayed by Alan Rosenberg receiving a diagnosis of ALS is getting strong support in the ALS community. We are now establishing an alliance with the show that we anticipate will result in a solid relationship with the creators and access to Alan for various opportunities. Alan visited the National Office recently to meet with patients and patient services staff from the Los Angeles Chapter in an effort to refine his character for future episodes.

You can help us as we mobilize a letter writing campaign to support this show and keep the storyline “on the air”. This show plans to continue with the ALS theme if it gets picked up next season. The attached letter has been approved and endorsed by the show's creator at CBS. Also is a list of CBS executives to direct the letters to their attention.

Thanks for your help in creating awareness about ALS.

SAMPLE LETTER

Date

Name

Address

Salutation:

I am one of the thousands of people in the United States whose life has been transformed by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. As a member of this very large community, I am writing to express my support of The Guardian as a program that has raised public awareness of this devastating disease with the most sensitive and accurate portrayal of a person with ALS in recent television history.

There are 30,000 people with this disease today in America , and many thousands more are impacted by the ravages of ALS, from family members to caregivers to friends to health care professionals.

The March 9 episode that featured Alvin learning that he has been diagnosed with this progressive, neurodegenerative disease served as a great beacon of light coming from The Guardian to our country.

Alan Rosenberg’s emotional and realistic performance has provided new hope throughout the ALS community that a television program of the caliber of The Guardian can focus the spotlight on the need for more research funding and expanded services for those affected by the disease. The sensitive portrayal of Alvin ’s character provides the awareness needed to accomplish these objectives in the search for treatments and a cure for ALS.

Even before the ALS episode, The Guardian has proven itself to be a unique television show that rises above what is normally seen on the air.

Please keep the beacon of light fixed on The Guardian and its excellent story lines. In opening the hearts of viewers with compassion and realism, you are giving viewers the programming qualities that they are looking for in good television.

Thank you,

The Guardian: CBS Executives List for Mail Campaign

Leslie Moonves
Chairman & CEO, CBS Television
7800 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles , CA 90036

Nancy Tellem
President, CBS Entertainment
7800 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles , CA 90036

Nina Tassler
7800 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles , CA 90036

David Stapf
Senior VP, Current Programs
7800 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles , CA 90036

Glenn Geller
Director, Current Programs
7800 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles , CA 90036

Eric Timm
CBS Productions
Executive Vice-President
7800 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles , CA 90036

Mike Azzolino
Director, Drama Series
7800 Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles , CA 90036

Leigh London
Manager (Drama)
7800 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles , CA 90036

Purple Prime Time

From:Northwestern Magazine
Date:Spring 2004
by Jenny Hontz

Many have created their own TV series and serve in the top job as executive producers, both writing and running the shows: Greg Berlanti (C94) of the WB drama Everwood, David Hollander (C90) of the CBS drama The Guardian, Robert Borden (C89) of ABC's sitcom George Lopez, Betsy Thomas (C90) of the WB comedy Run of the House, Terri Minsky (J80) of the Disney Channel's Lizzie McGuire and Mara Brock Akil (J92) of UPN's comedy Girlfriends, among others.


That's good news to someone like The Guardian's David Hollander, who grew up in a family that disdained television and was never interested in the medium until he created his own show, the CBS drama The Guardian. Working first in theater, Hollander wrote a stage play that spoofed Hollywood, which caught the attention of film producer Scott Rudin.

Hollander went into the movie business as a screenwriter. But the experience left him demoralized after he spent six years taking a back seat to directors, actors, producers and studio executives, who, he says, view writers as "interchangeable parts."

"It's not a lot of fun if you have a personality like mine," he says. "It's isolating and powerless. I felt I was wasting my valuable time."

Writing for theater wouldn't support his family of three kids, but percolating in the back of Hollander's head was the idea for a character-driven, television legal drama set in his hometown, Pittsburgh. Ignoring protocol, he skipped the studio pitch, heading straight for the networks with a list of conditions - a bold gamble for a television novice.

"I guess they thought, what the hell," Hollander says. "They signed off on creative control."

CBS gave him a relatively paltry sum to produce a pilot, which he shot in Toronto, flying below the radar screen of network executives. The series prototype tested well among a focus group of people who match the demographics of CBS viewers.

Immediately, The Guardian became a sleeper hit, giving Hollander even more leverage to take risks without network interference. He writes nearly every episode and oversees casting and production.

"That (ratings) number matters enormously. TV is a numbers business," Hollander says. "My main character does all the things a main character does not typically do on CBS. He has a coke habit. He doesn't like kids. He has sex with other women while his pregnant girlfriend is at home."

Hollander actually credits audience fragmentation and smaller ratings (compared to the years before 100 channels) with giving writers more freedom to make unpopular choices. "You do not have to entertain 30 million people," Hollander says. "You set your demo and get your ad rate."

Few people break into the business as quickly and at as high a level as Hollander, and for those struggling to make it, television isn't the picture of Hollywood glamour. In fact, nearly everyone starts at the bottom, in the mailroom of an agency or as a production or writer's assistant.

'Guardian' back in town, on air

From:Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Date:April 01, 2004
By Rob Owen


CBS's "The Guardian" will be back in Pittsburgh to film for one day, April 15.

The only regular cast member scheduled to make the trip is Alan Rosenberg, who plays Alvin Masterson. Scenes shot here -- most likely near the Frick Building and on one of the bridges into the Golden Triangle -- will be used in the show's third-season finale, set to air in May.

"Century City," which replaced "The Guardian" in recent weeks, had such low ratings, CBS has decided to bring "The Guardian" back earlier than expected. A new episode airs Tuesday.

No Future for CBS' 'Century City'

From:thefutoncritic.com
Date:April 1, 2004
By Brian Ford Sullivan

CBS has pulled the plug on its legal drama "Century City" after just three weeks on the air.

The series, which revolves around an L.A.-based law firm in the year 2030, pulled in 7.7 million viewers for its most recent airing, the worst first-run viewership in the show's Tuesday, 9:00/8:00c time slot in over four seasons not to mention below every original broadcast of "The Guardian" to date.

CBS plans to fill the Tuesday, 9:00/8:00c hour with repeats of "The Guardian" starting this week. The Eye had originally scheduled "Century City" through April 20 with "The Guardian" returning on April 27.

The move leaves five of the nine produced episodes of "City" on the shelf. Paul Attanasio, Katie Jacobs and Ed Zuckerman were the executive producers of the series, which came from Universal Network Television and Heel & Toe Films.