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| The Practice News - November 2002 |
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Leigh setting up new 'Practice' for ABC, Kelley
Leigh setting up new 'Practice' for ABC, Kelley
Tue Nov 5, 2:47 AM ET
By Nellie Andreeva
LOS ANGELES (The Hollywood Reporter) --- Chyler Leigh (news) has
joined a new law firm, but she's still working for David E. Kelley.
Leigh, one of the three stars of Kelley's short-lived Fox drama "girls
club," has joined the cast of ABC's "The Practice" as a regular. The
Emmy-winning drama also has signed actress Lolita Davidovich (news)
for a guest shot in the Dec. 1 episode, playing a woman accused of
murdering her boyfriend.
Leigh, who will make her debut on the David E. Kelley Prods./20th
Century Fox TV series in February, will play a young associate at the
new law firm launched by Kelli Williams' Lindsay Dole Donnell
character.
"We think Chyler is a major talent with a promising future and believe
that she will make a great contribution to 'The Practice,' " said
Kelley, the series' creator and executive producer.
"The Practice" has topped the Sunday 10 p.m. slot in all five of its
original telecasts this season, leading its closest competition, NBC's
"Boomtown," by 17% in total viewers and by 25% in adults 18-49.
On the big screen, Leigh starred in "Not Another Teen Movie." Her TV
series credits include Fox's comedy "That '80s Show" and the WB
Network drama "Safe Harbor."
Leigh is repped by the Gersh Agency, manager Sharon Lane and attorney
Brad Small. Davidovich, who has a guest arc on CBS' "The Agency" this
season, is repped by Writers & Artists and manager Nancy Sanders.
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"The Practice'' star Camryn Manheim to guest star on The Caroline
Rhea Show, November 8, 2002.
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A Catholic Writer Brings His Anger to 'The Practice'
By BILL CARTER
ith his series "The Practice" set in Boston and featuring two characters
identified as Catholics, David E. Kelley, the Emmy-winning television
writer, said he realized for a long time that he probably had the ideal
forum on television in which to address the priest sex abuse scandal that
has rocked the Catholic Church and especially the Archdiocese of Boston.
But in this case he was convinced he could not follow the standard
television formula of walking a line to steer clear of controversy,
presenting, as he said in an interview, "the arguments of the two
different sides to provide balance." With this issue Mr. Kelley said,
"There is no balance, it's just an atrocity."
Mr. Kelley's take on the scandal appears in Sunday night's episode of "The
Practice" on ABC. And Mr. Kelley, who was himself raised Catholic in
Boston, does not pull punches. His main character, Bobby Donnell, quits
the church at the conclusion of the episode. In a confrontation with his
parish priest, Donnell says, "Until you expel every offending priest and
everyone involved with protecting them, concealing them, there's been no
true penance."
In the telephone interview, Mr. Kelley also spoke about the rapid demise
of his new Fox series, "Girls Club," which was only his second failure but
which went off the air after just two episodes. Mr. Kelley said: "It was
such a spectacular failure. It was like a one-round knockout, and like
most one-round knockouts you don't see the punch coming. When something
goes down this fast, you can say it was the title, the idea, the
characters, the promotion, anything and everything."
The collapse does leave him with more time to write for "The Practice,"
which he said would take on other provocative issues like what he calls
the erosion of civil rights after 9/11. But in the context of a lawyer
show, it is hard to imagine one as hot-button as the church molestation
scandals.
In this coming Sunday's episode, Donnell's wife insists she will not allow
their newborn son to be baptized Catholic because of fear of what might
happen to him in a confessional, and another lawyer in the firm, Eugene
Young, a non-Catholic, accuses Catholic churchgoers of tacitly supporting
abuse and its coverup.
"It's been systemic," Eugene says, "and it's not enough for Catholic
people to say, `Isn't this awful," and, `Here's my check.' " Eugene's
recommendation: "Shut the church down. Start a different institution."
Mr. Kelley said that Donnell is not a surrogate for his own views. "It all
comes out of Bobby's character," he said, adding that the character's
Catholic background has been well established on the seven-year-old
series.
But Mr. Kelley's view of the scandal is not dissimilar. "I think what the
church did was an outrage," he said. "We should invent a better word than
outrage."
William A. Donohue, president of the Catholic League, which monitors media
representations of the church, said he has had numerous issues with Mr.
Kelley in the past and has not seen this episode. But in theory, he said,
he had no problem with a show that depicted a Catholic layman troubled by
the church's handling of the scandal. "If a Catholic isn't troubled by
this issue, he or she isn't a good Catholic," Mr. Donohue said.
He did not endorse the solution of Catholics leaving the church, of
course.
Looking to avoid a case that pits a priest against a victim, which
numerous shows have done, Mr. Kelley invented a case in which a man who
had been raped by a priest as a teenager sues a childhood friend for
endorsing the priest as a counselor even though the friend himself had
previously been raped by him.
The debate is augmented by Donnell's conversation with the other Catholic
lawyer in the firm, Jimmy Berluti. Berluti is played by Michael Badalucco,
who is Catholic himself. Mr. Kelley said he incorporated Mr. Badalucco's
personal views, almost word for word, in a speech arguing against leaving
the church.
"It would be like leaving God," Berluti says. "The church is not just the
priests. It's you and me. We are the church."
To his and the parish priest's arguments that media coverage has tarred
good priests and the charitable works done by the church, Donnell says:
"What can you say? Molestation gets a bad rap? I don't look to the church
like it's the United Way. For me it's about spiritual and moral
leadership."
Mr. Kelley said his purpose was "to put the question out there" — Can
Catholics adequately express their rage without quitting the church? The
show does not specifically mention the Boston cases and the criticism of
Cardinal Bernard F. Law's handling of offending priests, though Donnell
does make a reference to a "Father Shane" who was sent to California,
"with praise."
The mention refers to the Rev. Paul R. Shanley, one of the accused priests
who was protected by the Boston Archdiocese. The script originally
included the real name. "That was an edit by standards and practices," Mr.
Kelley said, referring to the company's censors, who did not want to use
real names. Otherwise the ABC standards department said, it had no problem
with the episode.
Mr. Kelley is not leaving the issue Sunday night. He said the conflict
over the baby's baptism would continue for several episodes. Next week
Donnell finds himself representing an accused child molester, and the
parish priest he confronted so angrily shows up and calls him on it.
*******************************************************
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) -
"It boggled me," said David E. Kelley when the New York Times headlined
him with "A Catholic Writer Brings His Anger to 'The Practice'." He is a
Protestant -- "a Congregationalist," he said.
We were discussing the timeliness of "The Practice's" segs about the sex
abuses in the Catholic Church - while the bishops meet in D.C. And the
subject of Catholicism will continue in the series, says Kelley, as two of
the principals, (Bobby Donnell and Lindsay Dole, played by Dylan McDermott
(news) and Kelli Williams) continue to debate their child's baptism. And
two of the other members of the firm debate Catholicism. And further,
Bobby is next called on to defend a child rapist, after expressing his
rage against the Catholic church abuses.
Kelley says ABC has been "completely supportive in the theme(s) of the
show" and "never" has there been any censorship. Topics upcoming include a
two-parter on the death penalty, and the erosion of civil rights since
9/ll.
While Kelley says there has been no negative public reaction to "The
Practice" addressing the Catholic issue, there has already been U.S.
public reaction to Carlos Carrera's Mexico-made feature, "El Crimen del
Padre Amaro" ("The Crime of Father Amaro") -- even though the film's not
yet released here (starts Friday). Samuel Goldwyn Jr. whose banner
distributes domestically, says a New England group is among those crying
foul. "But when I invited them to see the film, they declined," Goldwyn
tells me.
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'Headline Dramas' Offer Realism
By LYNN ELBER, AP Television Writer
Not far down the ratings list is "The Practice," the legal drama that
regularly wades into deep waters. Last Sunday's episode, which revolved
around the Catholic Church's sex abuse scandal, offered introspective
discussions of faith.
"Have you ever thought about leaving the church over it (the crisis)?"
attorney Bobby Donnell (Dylan McDermott (news)) asks fellow Catholic,
Jimmy Berluti (Michael Badalucco (news)).
"No. That would be like leaving God. ... the church is not just the
priests," Berluti replies. "It's you and me. To leave would be like
walking away from ourselves, who we are — people of God."
In a meeting with his priest, however, Donnell sorrowfully says he won't
remain in the church because "Until you expel every offending priest,
everyone involved with protecting and concealing them, there's no true
penance."
The episode was not universally applauded, with the Catholic League
accusing series creator David E. Kelley of exploiting a problem that it
says has involved less than 1.5 percent of priests over 40 years.
Some reservations about the drama also were expressed by Robert Knight,
director of the Concerned Women for America's Culture and Family Institute
in Washington.
But Knight said he was encouraged by another episode of "The Practice" on
stem cell research. He sees it as part of a Hollywood shift toward balance
and away from predictably liberal rhetoric — especially, he contends, on
abortion.
"In the right hands, these are very good developments because they tell
people there are two sides to the issue," he said. "Often, the industry
and the media do not give that impression. ... But when there is an actual
debate with a drama, there is at least an opportunity to air differences."
The changes in content reflect changes in production, Baer said. Doctors,
lawyers and police detectives now are hired as writers; some, such as
ex-lawyer Kelley, create and run shows.
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