The Daily News 5/1/1998 Catherine Bell On a Working JAG

To say this is "Catherine Bell Week" on CBS would not be an understatement. Between Monday and this coming Sunday, Bell, the sexy but tough star of CBS' hit drama "JAG," will have starred on the network three times. On Tuesday, she was featured in "JAG," the military adventure series that has made her a familiar face. Today, along with "King of Queens" star Kevin James, she hosts CBS' "All American Thanksgiving Parade" (9 a.m.). And on Sunday, she stars with Maureen O'Hara and Jason Beghe ("To Have and to Hold") in the telemovie "Cab to Canada" (9 p.m.). Besides validating Bell's flowering stature as both actress and celeb, the parade and movie gigs are sure indicators of "JAG's" increasing popularity. The show is ranked No. 14 for the season to date. "The whole point of getting a series is getting your face and name out there," Bell told the News. "CBS has been asking me to do a lot of their parades, which is flattering and nice. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade is a big deal." And as for Sunday's film, she said, "The CBS movie was an offer that came to me, which was nice." Having already done two parades for the network before, Bell isn't worried about today's assignment."You just kind of show up and try to have fun," she said. Not that she's complaining in any way about "JAG," but Bell was also happy for the parade and movie assignments because they provided her with a bit of a diversion from the grueling schedule of the weekly one-hour drama. She actually got the film offer three days into a vacation that came after 10½ straight months of filming "JAG." In "Cab to Canada," she plays a dispatcher dating a driver (Beghe) who transports a fare (O'Hara) a very long distance - from Southern California to Canada. Her role stands in stark contrast to her hard-as-nails "JAG" character, Maj. Sarah (Mac) MacKenzie. "It was nice," she said of "Cab to Canada." "I just wanted to do something that's different from Mac. I was just this sweet, soft, down-to-earth woman, not the ass-kicking, tough lawyer, kick boxer [on 'JAG']." Not that she's looking for something completely different. Not with 15 million viewers tuning in each week to see her and the rest of the "JAG" team. "I don't think it would be smart to stray too much," she said. "There is the idea of throwing your fans off. Playing a drug-addicted prostitute wouldn't go over well." Considering "JAG's" shaky road to success, it's understandable that Bell doesn't want to offend its loyal viewers. The show debuted a few seasons back on NBC, which dropped it after one year. CBS then stepped in and stood by the series when ratings were just lukewarm. The network's patience has paid off this season, with the show taking off in the Nielsen department. "CBS has really believed in the show from the beginning. [CBS President] Les Moonves and the folks at CBS thought this was a great show and felt it could grow," said Bell. "People just needed a chance to catch onto it."