Posted on 06/11/2007 4:14:41 PM PDT by SandRat
LOS ANGELES, June 11, 2007 One of TVs biggest names, Don Bellisario -- creator of Magnum PI, JAG and, most recently, NCIS -- credits his own Marine Corps experience with giving him the background he needed to break into the television industry.
I guess I looked at that as kind of a talisman for me, my lucky rabbit foot, he said during an interview in his Hollywood office, where mementos of his Tinseltown successes are displayed alongside a Marine Corps flag flown over Fallujah, Iraq. Two years after Baa Baa Black Sheep hit the screen, Bellisario created Magnum PI, a detective story based in Hawaii. He said he knew he was taking a bold step when he bucked anti-Vietnam sentiment still prevalent in Hollywood at the time and portrayed the shows stars as Vietnam veterans. Something Im very proud of happened, he said, reflecting on that time. I began to get letters from veterans who had been in Vietnam, thanking me for portraying them in a positive manner. Because up until that show, anytime you saw a Vietnam vet in television, he was an alcoholic, a druggie, a shooter in a tower, a wife beater, a killer, (or) insane. And you never saw a positive image. But that doesnt mean Bellisarios audiences see military portrayals through rose-colored glasses or that the storylines dont venture into controversial topics. He recalled one JAG episode, loosely based on a story he heard about two submariners who covered up evidence that they had accidentally sunk a torpedo while unloading the gun tubes. Bellisario said he decided to spice up the plot line by making the missing torpedo a nuclear round. The Navy reviewed the script, but refused to support the production because officials said existing security measures make the storyline preposterous. Rather than change the script, Bellisario produced the show without military support. I understood, and they understood, he said. In his portrayals, Bellisario strives to give a balanced picture of the military, he said. He cited a JAG episode that was based loosely on a real incident about a female flier who cried sexual harassment after getting poor ratings on her checkout rides. As it turned out, she really was an accident waiting to happen, Bellisario said. Thats an interesting story, but Im not going to tell that story unless I tell another story that balances it, where a woman is, in fact, held back because she rejected somebodys advances, he said. I told both of those stories in two different shows. Bellisario said he goes out of his way to give the military a fair shake in his shows, and he called that a big factor in why he rarely gets turned down when he asks the Defense Department for support. The truth is, it is rare that they do not cooperate on a show, he said. And the reason its rare, I think, is because I always try to hold the military up in a very positive light. I dont want to do anything negative to hurt the military or the people serving in the military. I dont like to do that. |
Related Articles: Military, Hollywood Team Up To Create Realism, Drama on Big Screen |
Color me suspect on the timing of this bit of PR.
How's that "NCIS" series going, Don old boy? Will you be featuring any episodes derived from their loathsome real-life persecutions... err... prosecutions of our Marines and other service people in Iraq and elsewhere?
Get Netflix, they have the first 6 seasons so far on DVD.
Baa Baa Black Sheep have you any wool to pull over Freema’s eyes?
I totally forgot about that show!
I loved that show.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.