So Much For Gut Instincts

by David Martindale, Houston Chronicle Chronilog, February 6-12, 2000

So much for gut instincts.

When David James Elliott signed on to play Lt. Cmdr. Harmon Rabb Jr. of JAG he was convinced he had an instant hit on his hands.

Then, when the military/courtroom drama tanked in the ratings, was canceled by NBC after one season and rescued by CBS Elliott was wishing he could just be done with the whole thing.

"I'll be honest with you," he says, "I was disappointed when CBS picked it. Part of me was saying, 'Let's just let it die and move on. Why torture ourselves?' But it wouldn't die."

After flying below the Nielsen ratings radar for years, JAG built slowly until, in its fourth year, it emerged as a bona fide hit. It reaches its milestone 100th episode Tuesday and is a huge hit in reruns (weekdays, USA).

"It's been nice to see all your hard work finally pay off," Elliott says. "It's not an easy show to make, by any stretch."

Elliott's role as Harm, a Navy lawyer with the Judge Advocate General Corps, is demanding in several ways. With stories that vary from taut courtroom drama to Hunt for Red October-style action to light romantic comedy, Elliott has to be able to call upon a wide range of acting skills.

"I love that about the show," he says. "It keeps it interesting. But I think it hindered the show a little in the beginning because it was tough for people to put a finger on what it was. That and getting over the prejudice to it being a military show. People going, 'Aaah, I don't like military shows.' When, in fact, it's more than just that. "Which style of story does he favor?

"If it were up to me," Elliott says, "I like the courtroom stuff best. It's the most fun for me as an actor. It's more fun to do something in a courtroom or to do two actors sitting at a table head to heard than to be running through a smoke-filled building, chasing bad guys. That's exhausting work.

"Or the jet stuff. That's hard too. It's just a nightmare to shoot. It takes forever, and you're locked into the capsule for hours and hours. It's gruelling, and your back is hurting because you have to contort your body in there."

Of course, those are the scenes - the ones incorporating state-of-the-art military hardware - that many fans imagine being the "cool part" of the job.

"Yeah, right, but it's really the nightmare part," Elliott counters. "It looks great when it's done. You're glad you went through the agony, but at that moment you're like cursing your fortune, going, 'God, write another courtroom scene, please!" On the other hand, for the courtroom stuff, you have to go home and memorize yards of legalese. But nothing worthwhile is every easy.

Our thanks to Marion for submitting this.