Publicity, Halfheartedly
Getting people to watch a television show these days is like running for political office--making sure your core constituency turns out, courting the undecided, disseminating the message through whatever media outlets will provide a platform to pitch your programs.
Craig T. Nelson should know the drill, having spent much of the last 15 years as a television star. After nine seasons starring in ABC’s “Coach,” he returned to prime time last season with “The District,” a program that continues to perform reasonably well for CBS Saturday nights, when ABC and NBC have bowed to low overall TV viewing levels by running movies in lieu of original series.
Still, for all his experience, Nelson remains uncomfortable with one obligatory part of the job--namely, pressing the flesh on behalf of his series, especially when that means dealing with the press itself.
Nelson participated in a conference call with reporters this week to promote a crossover episode connecting his series, in which he plays flamboyant Washington, D.C., Police Chief Jack Mannion, with CBS’ first-year CIA drama, “The Agency.” Yet anyone listening could discern his heart wasn’t in it, that he approached the session--which included a question about whether he’s irked his show isn’t written about more--with the sort of enthusiasm reserved for a firing squad.
Then again, at least he showed up. When “Coach” signed off in 1997, Nelson let a written statement to fans speak for him, eschewing interviews.
“So often there’s just nothing to say,” Nelson said after the conference call, explaining his reticence. “You’re repeating some kind of drivel, and there is so much to my life that is more important than drivel.... It’s always a very difficult thing for me.”
Nelson doesn’t exactly qualify as his generation’s Greta Garbo. He’ll talk to reporters, he said, to get the word out if there’s an episode he feels especially proud of. Yet he’s also skeptical of bringing additional people to the set in that process, and besides, “I get bored listening to myself talk, anyway,” he said.
Of course, Nelson has managed to enjoy considerable success without being a media darling. Critics seldom had much nice to say about “Coach,” but the series endured 15 time-period changes en route to completing 200 episodes. “Not only the critics were trying to kill it, but the network,” Nelson quipped, noting that the show also survived four executive regimes at ABC.
By the time “Coach” ended, Nelson was one of its producers, a role he also plays on “The District.” At this point, he said, having a level of influence in a program is the best part of the job. “I stick my nose in where it doesn’t belong, of course,” he said.
Nelson started as a writer as well as a performer, beginning his TV career in the 1970s on the “Lohman and Barkley Show,” a variety series for which his collaborators included director Barry Levinson, actor John Amos and comic Art Metrano. Last year, Nelson arranged for Metrano--who is still performing after a fall off his roof in 1989 left him paralyzed--to appear in a guest role on “The District.”
The real-life figure upon whom the show is based, Jack Maple, moved from city to city to overhaul police departments before dying from colon cancer last year at age 48. In discussions regarding how to keep the series fresh should it continue for several years, the producers have considered the possibility of a similar shift, with Mannion being transplanted to reform law enforcement in a new city.
What little discussion “The District” did generate in the media before its premiere was mostly negative, with some critics taking the show to task for presenting Mannion as a sort of Great White Father--dispensing law, order and wisdom to a department previously run by an African American deputy chief and mayor.
CBS wasn’t thrilled by the criticism, but it fizzled quickly, and the show went on to become one of last season’s surprises, currently averaging 10.4 million viewers a week and regularly winning its time slot.
Its star, meanwhile, had a different perspective on the fleeting controversy.
“I was very excited by that,” Nelson said. “Does a show have to be politically correct to make it? Those are interesting issues and should be explored. This is exactly what the show should be.”
In fact, “The District” is seeking to tackle thornier issues, including a story next month focusing on the death penalty. Co-written by producers John Wirth and Pam Veasey, the episode represents the writers’ attempts to be edgier and “not to play it safe,” as Nelson put it, breaking from whatever formulaic expectations surround the show.
“One of the things I wanted to accomplish is to try to rehabilitate the reputation of the show with critics, which has proved to be very difficult,” said Wirth, who joined the series this season.
It remains to be seen whether that creative drift will inspire the press to talk about “The District,” but it’s a safe bet that its star would just as soon not have to talk back.
“The District” airs tonight at 10 on CBS.