JAG finally drops anchor

Star David James Elliott happy series has a home
By Claire Bickley, The Toronto Sun, September 30, 1997

In the history of JAG, this passes for stability: For the second year in a row, the military drama is on the same network and has the same core cast.

"The show lives!" declares actor David James Elliott, who has starred from the start as Navy lawyer Harmon Rabb.

JAG began its third season last week on CBS, the network that stepped in when NBC dropped it after its rookie year. Since its 1995 debut, the show has travelled the TV schedule, airing on Saturdays, then Wednesdays, then Fridays, then twice a week. Now it's slotted Tuesday nights at 8 (also on ONTV) as a lead-in to David Caruso's new drama Michael Hayes.

"All these things to me point towards people believing in the show," Elliott says. "How many shows get to a third season? Very few. It's a vicious battleground now with so many channels and so much programming."

Returning cast members include Catherine Bell as Harm's (third) female side-kick, Maj. Sarah MacKenzie, and Patrick Labyorteaux is back as Harm's comic foil, Lt. Bud Roberts.

Romantic and comic aspects will get more emphasis this season.

"It's getting more interesting from a character point of view. We're servicing their personal lives more. That excites me that I'm not just spouting exposition or reading storypoints."

Elliott also prefers CBS's approach to promotion to that practised at NBC, which marketed the show largely on its lead's sex appeal.

"You're not going to get me running around in a Speedo," he insists. "That was something I told (executive producer Don Bellisario) early on. I said, 'You want my shirt off, you better find a good reason to have it off.' I remember watching another show, a show that did not last, about a judge. They come walking into the judge's chambers and he's there with his shirt off. He was in great shape but it was so obviously exploitative. Things have to have a reason, you know."

Bellisario, a former Marine, continues to reflect real-life military affairs with new scripts about fraternization and training accidents.

Sometime this season, Harm will discover the truth behind the mystery of his MIA father. On a lighter note, he'll demonstrate his guitar-playing abilities, something that harkens back to Elliott's teen years in a Milton rock band.

"I don't know if he will sing but he can sing," he [Bellisario] says.

Elliott chose not to do a movie during the series' spring-summer hiatus, enjoying the break from 17-hour days to spend time with his wife and their four-year-old daughter.

In June, he made a quick trip home to be a presenter on The NHL Awards, but he's not among other ex-pats in Hollywood who grab a shinny game whenever they can.

"I don't really skate," he says. "Some Canadian I am, huh?" The self-described workaholic did travel this summer, promoting the show in Australia and South Africa.

"It's huge. I'm like Elvis in Australia. I walk on the street and they're chasing me down with cameras. It's very bizarre for a person coming from Milton, Ontario. Weird," he says.

What has Milton done for him lately?

"Nothing. I've probably gotten them more publicity than anybody - but I'm still waiting for the key to the city."