Post by Forever Xena on Sept 2, 2005 7:32:50 GMT -6
Oval Office gets a makeover
By Bill Keveney, USA TODAY
•The show: Commander in Chief
•The premiere: Sept. 27, 9 p.m. ET/PT, ABC
•The twist: The USA gets a double first: a female president who is an independent.
•The concept: We see her life at home and in the Oval Office.
She's the president: The buck stops with Geena Davis, with Kyle Secor, left, and Anthony Azizi, in ABC's Commander in Chief.
ABC
Everyone knows the president's duties: defending the nation, putting together a trillion-dollar budget, making breakfast for the kids.
The last one isn't part of the recognizable job description, but it will be for ABC's new drama. And it will be a particularly hurried adjustment for Vice President Mackenzie Allen (Oscar winner Geena Davis), who takes the top job after the president's death.
"This is the chance to see, in all its aspects, what it is like to suddenly become president. You have a crisis in Nigeria and you have a 6-year-old. And you have twins in trouble in high school," says Davis, 49, whose president is a married mother of three.
President Allen deals with such world issues as terrorism and a Russian summit, but she also has moments every parent faces, as when her daughter wants her to make eggs in the middle of the night. "It almost causes a national crisis that I go in the big kitchen and I'm poking around. Everybody is getting pages all over the city: 'The president needs something in the kitchen. Get in there,' " Davis says.
Using TV's reigning political drama, The West Wing, as a yardstick, ABC entertainment chief Steve McPherson says Commander "has a bigger family element. This is the East Wing side of it."
Commander, a focus of ABC's fall hopes, will have lighter moments, but there will be plenty of serious stuff, says creator Rod Lurie, who calls the show "a drama with a big smile on its face."
Since she is aligned with neither party, Allen will face special challenges in working with Congress and trying to achieve her goals, Lurie says. She also inherits a dangerous rival, Republican Speaker of the House Nathan Templeton (Donald Sutherland). She asks the late president's chief of staff (Harry Lennix) to stay to help her navigate the situation. (Ever Carradine plays Allen's press secretary, while Natasha Henstridge, Peter Coyote and Leslie Hope will have recurring roles.)
Lurie, who describes Commander's focus as presidential more than political, says the lack of political affiliation will allow Allen to find herself holding views normally held by those on opposite sides of the political divide, such as opposing the death penalty and supporting gun rights.
He says the idea of an independent president is much more unlikely than a female one, especially in an age when Hillary Clinton and Condoleezza Rice are mentioned as Oval Office possibilities.
Allen's independent status — Lurie says the writing approach is more anti-partisan than non-partisan — will yield many stories. "That she's a woman will carry the show only so far. That she's an independent will carry the show forever," Lurie says.
He acknowledges the obvious West Wing comparisons, saying NBC's Emmy-winning White House drama is one of his favorite TV series, but he points to major differences. West Wing focuses on the president and his staff; Commander is more about the president and her family. (Her husband, played by Kyle Secor of Homicide: Life on the Street, spans both worlds, since he is a political veteran and was her vice presidential chief of staff.)
When asked if there's a double standard regarding a female president's family duties, Davis, a mother of two children, responds: "There's no getting away from the fact that mothers are and want to be nurturers of their family. Not that fathers can't also do that, but it's just a part of being a mother."
McPherson is hoping that women, who make up the majority of the prime-time audience, will be able to relate to a series about a female president. And men could come around, too, he hopes, as they did with last year's huge hit, Desperate Housewives.
Commander has received a big publicity push, and it will get a boost during the season opener of Housewives, which premieres two days earlier. "There's a wish-fulfillment element for families and women. They can access this woman's journey as a mom, as a wife and as a leader," he says.
By Bill Keveney, USA TODAY
•The show: Commander in Chief
•The premiere: Sept. 27, 9 p.m. ET/PT, ABC
•The twist: The USA gets a double first: a female president who is an independent.
•The concept: We see her life at home and in the Oval Office.
She's the president: The buck stops with Geena Davis, with Kyle Secor, left, and Anthony Azizi, in ABC's Commander in Chief.
ABC
Everyone knows the president's duties: defending the nation, putting together a trillion-dollar budget, making breakfast for the kids.
The last one isn't part of the recognizable job description, but it will be for ABC's new drama. And it will be a particularly hurried adjustment for Vice President Mackenzie Allen (Oscar winner Geena Davis), who takes the top job after the president's death.
"This is the chance to see, in all its aspects, what it is like to suddenly become president. You have a crisis in Nigeria and you have a 6-year-old. And you have twins in trouble in high school," says Davis, 49, whose president is a married mother of three.
President Allen deals with such world issues as terrorism and a Russian summit, but she also has moments every parent faces, as when her daughter wants her to make eggs in the middle of the night. "It almost causes a national crisis that I go in the big kitchen and I'm poking around. Everybody is getting pages all over the city: 'The president needs something in the kitchen. Get in there,' " Davis says.
Using TV's reigning political drama, The West Wing, as a yardstick, ABC entertainment chief Steve McPherson says Commander "has a bigger family element. This is the East Wing side of it."
Commander, a focus of ABC's fall hopes, will have lighter moments, but there will be plenty of serious stuff, says creator Rod Lurie, who calls the show "a drama with a big smile on its face."
Since she is aligned with neither party, Allen will face special challenges in working with Congress and trying to achieve her goals, Lurie says. She also inherits a dangerous rival, Republican Speaker of the House Nathan Templeton (Donald Sutherland). She asks the late president's chief of staff (Harry Lennix) to stay to help her navigate the situation. (Ever Carradine plays Allen's press secretary, while Natasha Henstridge, Peter Coyote and Leslie Hope will have recurring roles.)
Lurie, who describes Commander's focus as presidential more than political, says the lack of political affiliation will allow Allen to find herself holding views normally held by those on opposite sides of the political divide, such as opposing the death penalty and supporting gun rights.
He says the idea of an independent president is much more unlikely than a female one, especially in an age when Hillary Clinton and Condoleezza Rice are mentioned as Oval Office possibilities.
Allen's independent status — Lurie says the writing approach is more anti-partisan than non-partisan — will yield many stories. "That she's a woman will carry the show only so far. That she's an independent will carry the show forever," Lurie says.
He acknowledges the obvious West Wing comparisons, saying NBC's Emmy-winning White House drama is one of his favorite TV series, but he points to major differences. West Wing focuses on the president and his staff; Commander is more about the president and her family. (Her husband, played by Kyle Secor of Homicide: Life on the Street, spans both worlds, since he is a political veteran and was her vice presidential chief of staff.)
When asked if there's a double standard regarding a female president's family duties, Davis, a mother of two children, responds: "There's no getting away from the fact that mothers are and want to be nurturers of their family. Not that fathers can't also do that, but it's just a part of being a mother."
McPherson is hoping that women, who make up the majority of the prime-time audience, will be able to relate to a series about a female president. And men could come around, too, he hopes, as they did with last year's huge hit, Desperate Housewives.
Commander has received a big publicity push, and it will get a boost during the season opener of Housewives, which premieres two days earlier. "There's a wish-fulfillment element for families and women. They can access this woman's journey as a mom, as a wife and as a leader," he says.