The Courier Mail 1/28/1999 JAG Survives Early Turbulence

JAG survives early turbulence From the Black Sheep to the Judge Advocate General Corps ex-Marine Don Bellisario is still flying high. Johnathan Storm reports IN Australia the naval action series JAG has been running successfully for several years. But in the US it has had a topsy turvy life with cancellations and renewals followed by a remarkable success story. Veteran TV producer Don Bellisario was on a plane to New York in spring 1996. NBC had just cancelled the latest in his long line of handsome- guy action series. JAG, a military show, of all things. Apparently, that was a big mistake, because both NBC's rivals CBS and ABC wanted it. ABC', which saw the flag-waving, adrenaline-pumping JAG as a perfect show for its line-up was a little slow off the mark. So instead CBS boss Les Moonves, a hard-nosed horse trader, said he would buy 13 episodes, pronto. But the offer lasted only until the end of the day. Bellisario, an ex-Marine and somewhat of an action guy himself, said okay. For two years, .JAG has quietly gathered viewers in the US as David James Elliott has zoomed around the world in his starched dress whites, a Navy lawyer and a top-gun pilot, snatching justice from inequity' s insidious grasp. After ER, Touched by an Angel and NYPD Blue, JAG is America's fourth- favorite drama. 'It's very important to me that younger people are liking it," Bellisario said, a little peeved when some critic called his show ''old-fashioned' ''We deal with contemporary problems and contemporary stories. There' s nothing old-fashioned about women being harassed in the military. . . . We have a straightforward, honest show that has an appealing male lead and au appealing female lead (Catherine Bell plays Elliott' s sidekick) and a terrific supporting cast." Bellisario has also refined a technique of interlacing stock footage with film that his company shoots to produce a series that has more of a big-screen look than any other on television. His weekly budget of a little under $2 million is above average for TV drama, but wouldn't even cover the salaries of Mad About You's Helen Hunt and Paul Reiser. Bellisario, raised near Pittsburgh, spent four years in the Marines, graduated from Penn State, and worked at an advertising agency in the early '60s before moving to Texas and then Hollywood. He's had some experience with appealing male leads. In the '70s, he worked on Baa Baa Black Sheep (Robert Conrad). In the '80s, it was Airwolf (Jan-Michael Vincent) and Tales of the Gold Monkey (Stephen Collins). Scott Bakula's Quantum Leap was his '90s effort. along with the unsuccessful Tequila and Bonetti (Jack Scahia). He also executive-produced a little thing called Magnum, P.I.