The Edmonton Sun 8/22/1999 JAG Shifts Gears\Catherine Bell Fleshes Out Her Character

March 15, 1998, stands as a red-letter day for ... well, let's say mainly for the male the CBS series .IAG. That was the airdate for the episode Yesterday's Heroes, in which Judge Advocate investigators (Harm) Rabb .Jr. (David James Elliott) and Sarah (Mac) Mackenzie (Catherine Bell) go to Miami to investigate the navy sinking of a drug boat. "David takes his shirt off a lot, but they only ever put me in a bikini one time, and that was probably the last time that'll ever happen," says a cheery liciL who was in Toronto this summer shooting the WTBS Superstation sci-fi movie Time Shifters with Casper Van Dien. "Go on the Internet and you'll see pictures from it. They're all over the Web sites," she says of the rapidly growing number of online shrines to her. A self-described "computer nut," Bell notes appreciatively: "There's a new Web site just about every time I look. It's mad. "It's funny - at the beginning of my first season, we were talking about how to boost viewership, and I jokingly said to Don (Bellisario, the executive producer). 'Hey, put me in a bikini!' Two years later it happened. Ernest Borgnine was the guest-star. We were undercover and I was the distraction for the drug dealers. I'm on the dock, this guy checks me out, I turn around, knock him down and grab his gun. "It was great to get out of uniform," she says. But she admits it wasn't the boss's favorite episode. "At the end, Don was like 'What is this, Baywatch'?' Baywatch it certainly is not. But the intelligently written JAG has to give some of the credit for its phoenix-like rebirth to its female lead - even though she's spent far too much time in a starched navy uniform for her liking. The series, about the elite legal wing of the U.S. Navy, had good reviews but few viewers in its first incarnation on NBC. U was cut loose from the network and picked up by CBS iii 1996, where it has been a classic example of a word-of-mouth hit. One of the big additions: Bell who had ironically already been a character in the series when it was on NBC, and was killed (she played Lieut. Diane Schonke, a love interest for Harm - but the episode was "lost" when the series was cancelled). When the series moved and was retooled, sI1e set her sights on the newly announced female lead. She's heading into her fourth season on the show, following what she considers "the strongest season yet" (it ended with a cliffhanger that saw Harm leave the Judge Advocate General's office - but what do you want to bet he'll return'?). A "major tomboy," dirt-biker and bungee-jumper, she's started campaigning for more action for her character. And she welcomes projects like Time Shifter, where she gets to run around, dodge explosions, take part in car chases, etc. "For my hiatus, I was sent a lot of scripts that were like Mac, starched uniforiiis or simple, kind ofplaiii characters. And I wanted something different, something with action. We get some action on JAG, but I always want more. I'm always yelling to Don, 'More action! I want Mac to kick a--. I want to ride a motorcycle," she laughs. "Actually we're in discussions about the motorcycle, it could be my big thing next season." Ironically, having started out as Elliott's love interest, Bell has been riding out the writers' on-again off-again forays at bringing them together. "A relationship between Harm and Mac has been floated a lot. We have jealousies when one of us gets a new boyfriend or girlfriend. And when David left JAG, there were a lot of tears in that episode; (the characters) ended up agreeing that in five years, if neither are married and don't have children, we'll get together and make a baby, basically. "Those are pretty good hints we're heading in that direction. But the writers tend to go so far and then they don't want to get stuck and they back off. There~ s a mix of action, comedy and romantic elements in the series, and they don't mess with it." Certainly, it meets with the approval of the ultimate critics, the Judge Advocate General officers they portray. "I've met a lot of JAG lawyers and they are all very happy with the show," she says, "although they joke that their lives are never as exciting as the ones that we portray." As for next season, she can't or won't say much about Harm's return, saying demurely that "they never tell us much." But she does reveal: "I do believe there's a promotion in my future. That'll be fun, being a lieutenant colonel. And I do believe there'll be a lot more personal storylines. "I mean, the military thing is great, but it's really good to get us out of uniform and see us behave as people."